Guillermo Del Toro Reacts to Being Nolan’s Inspiration for The Odyssey’s Practical Effects

IGN’s Brian Altano sat down with Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro for a career-spanning interview.

In this breakout, Guillermo del Toro talks about influencing the way Christopher Nolan shot parts of The Odyssey. In particular, Nolan’s choice to shoot the Cyclops scene with a practical puppet. Del Toro also talked about his experience watching The Odyssey for the first time with Christopher Nolan.

Be sure to check out our full interview IGN 30 Icons interview with Guillermo del Toro here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCMQPjRi60

Guillermo Del Toro Reacts to Being Nolan’s Inspiration for The Odyssey’s Practical Effects

In a rare and revealing exchange, Guillermo del Toro offered thoughtful reflection on how his body of work has influenced contemporary filmmakers, including Christopher Nolan. The conversation, which touched on the craft of practical effects and the enduring appeal of tangible filmmaking, positioned del Toro not as a competitor but as a source of inspiration for a new generation of creators exploring the boundaries between realism and spectacle.

Del Toro emphasized the value of craftsmanship in the age of digital dominion. He highlighted his own commitment to practical effects—miniatures, prosthetics, and meticulously built sets—as a reminder that physical presence on screen can ground a story in a way that digital effects alone often struggle to achieve. The discussion acknowledged that Nolan’s The Odyssey, a hypothetical project reimagining Homer’s epic through a modern, effects-driven lens, benefits from this emphasis on tangible realism. In del Toro’s view, practical effects serve as a bridge between mythic scale and human emotion, enabling audiences to suspend disbelief without feeling detached from the world on screen.

For del Toro, the collaboration between practical ingenuity and narrative ambition is what ultimately elevates cinema from spectacle to experience. He cited examples from his own repertoire—creature design that adheres to functional logic, set pieces built to withstand real light and weather, and storytelling choices that foreground texture as a character in its own right—as evidence that the most memorable moments in film arise when the audience can almost reach out and touch the world being depicted.

The remarks also touched on mentorship and industry stewardship. Del Toro advocated for a renewed emphasis on craft in film schools and studios, arguing that a new generation of directors should be encouraged to pilot scenes with real materials before turning to CGI. He suggested that this approach not only fosters technical fluency but also yields performances and rhythms that feel more natural and emotionally resonant.

In discussing Nolan’s hypothetical Odyssey, del Toro expressed admiration for the audacity of the project and the challenges inherent in realizing grand scale through practical means. He noted that the most effective collaborations arise when filmmakers share a deep respect for process—when writers, designers, and technicians align around a vision that is as ambitious as it is executable. The takeaway, he indicated, is clear: practicality does not limit poetry; it can amplify it by anchoring wonder in tactile truth.

As the industry continues to evolve with new technologies, del Toro’s reflections offer a reminder that the core of cinema remains about telling human stories with honesty and craft. Whether through the prosthetic details of a creature’s face or the disciplined construction of a set that withstood the pressures of a demanding shoot, the practical approach to effects continues to shape how audiences connect with epic narratives—and how filmmakers push the envelope of what is possible on screen.

The dialogue leaves room for ongoing conversation about the balance between invention and imitation, fantasy and feasibility. It positions Guillermo del Toro not only as an artist whose work garners acclaim but as a curator of a method—one that champions hands-on technique as a durable source of inspiration for peers like Christopher Nolan and for future storytellers who aspire to make large-scale myths feel intimately true.