Gael García Bernal said it without filtering himself in an interview about reading and literature.
For him, there are stories that belong to a voice one has built in one’s head over the years, and “The Odyssey” is one of them. The Mexican actor admitted that he can’t imagine Odysseus speaking in English, because since childhood he has heard him with a different accent, a different rhythm, another language. “I know it’s kind of sacrilegious to say it”, he acknowledged, aware that the phrase was going to cause a stir.
And it did cause a stir. On social media, some applauded his fidelity to the classics; others accused him of overplaying a stance. The discussion isn’t just about a movie: it’s about what is lost when a book we love becomes someone else’s image and voice.