We’re like a ticking time bomb
THE LATEST SPIDER-MAN FILM PROMISES TO BE EPIC. BUT STARS TOM HOLLAND AND ZENDAYA TELL GEORGIA HUMPHREYS THEY HAD SO MUCH FUN WORKING TOGETHER, THEY COULD HARDLY STOP LAUGHING
IT’S hard to get a word in edgeways when chatting to Tom Holland and Zendaya.
The talkative stars, both 25, play superhero Spider-Man and his love interest MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and are also rumoured to be a couple in real life.
Sitting together ahead of the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home – a powerful culmination of Peter Parker’s MCU origin story, based on the comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko – the pair giggle and rib each other.
California native Zendaya spends a good thirty seconds trying – hilariously – to impersonate Tom, from Kingston upon Thames (he says she’s been learning some Cockney rhyming slang, too).
She says: “I find I do this thing when I’m around him for a while where I speak with British inflections, but not the British accent, which is really strange.”
Meanwhile, Tom discusses a birthday tribute he posted to his costar on Instagram in September.
Amid speculation they are in a relationship, he shared a picture – that shows him wearing the SpiderMan costume, minus the mask, while Zendaya leans over his shoulder to take the snap in the mirror – with the caption: “My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx.”
Euphoria and Dune star Zendaya then commented, “Calling now” along with a heart emoji – and the post has been liked by more than 19 million users of the social media site.
“It’s crazy, but something we try not to think about all that much,” reflects Tom, who began his acting career aged 12, playing Billy Elliot on the West End.
“We’re here to do a job, we’re here to promote a movie that we love and we’re proud of, and we’re very lucky that we have fans that are so supportive and so invested in our lives.
“We’re very careful with how much of our personal lives we share, so everything is something that goes through, not planning, but you’re like, ‘Hey, can I post this?’ and you’re like, ‘Let me just have a look’. And then we’re zooming in in the background making sure there are...”
“No spoilers,” chimes in Zendaya (there are a few times the affable duo finish each other’s sentences).
“Nothing we’d get in trouble for,” echoes Tom, with a cheeky smile. “There’s a process to it. But it’s sometimes nice to share some of your life with the fans, and it’s nice to see that they reciprocated that love.”
As for what to expect from the latest instalment in the franchise, here’s what we can reveal about the story, spoiler-free.
The world now knows 17-year-old
Peter Parker is the friendly neighbourhood hero, so the high school senior’s life is in the public eye, causing chaos and danger for him and his loved ones.
When Peter, along with his ‘accomplices’ MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon), don’t get into college because of the trouble caused by Spider-Man’s antics, he pays Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) a visit. He hopes his fellow superhero will be able to help and make the world forget he is the person behind the Spider-Man mask.
But things don’t exactly go to plan and instead, a spell cast by Doctor Strange means everyone who knows Peter is Spider-Man is brought into the MCU from every other universe – including formidable enemies.
Will Peter be able to successfully face them off, and also protect his future with MJ and Ned?
There will be plenty of drama and action, and perhaps some darker moments, but what really stands out about Tom’s third solo SpiderMan movie (the first was released in 2017) is how laugh-out-loud funny it is.
The script is pacey and full of quips, and there is so much great energy between the cast on screen.
“Honestly, if it’s all three of us – you, me, and Jacob – it’s like, we’re not getting any work done,” recalls Zendaya, when asked about their favourite moments on set together.
“We’re like a ticking time bomb,” Tom agrees.
He recalls how, even when watching esteemed thespians like Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe (who play villains Doc Ock and Green Goblin respectively) do serious scenes, he and his young co-stars would be laughing in the background, trying to hold it together.
Putting the fun aside, what is it about these characters that they like to delve into?
“I have a side to Peter Parker that I show, which I can’t talk about, but it was so fun doing it,” teases Tom.
“It was scary. Jon (Watts, director)would say ‘Cut!’ and then he would come over and ask, ‘Are you okay?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know!”’
Even though she admits it can “sometimes be difficult because there’s limited information”, Zendaya notes how fun she finds working with the special effects.
“I love this feeling of being a little kid, and you’re basically playing make-believe; that’s what we do for a living, but it’s on another scale when it’s just blue screens, and you’re holding something in your hand, it’s just a green thing, and they’ll make it something else later.
“He’s like, ‘Here’s the scenario, here’s what’s happening, and action’, and then you’re just like, ‘Okay everyone, just pretend that everything’s there,’ which is actually really fun.”
“It’s like playing expensive charades,” quips Tom.
The actor – who has also starred in Marvel films Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame – expresses how much he enjoyed his scenes with Zendaya too.
“My favourite thing about MJ in this film, that is something we haven’t seen massively in the previous two films, is how nurturing she is,” he offers, grinning.
“She really does become a shoulder for Peter to cry on, and I really like that we’ve been able to build our relationship throughout the films.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home is in cinemas from Friday
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Based on the memoir of JR Moehringer, director George Clooney’s film is a sweet, engaging but dramatically thin coming-of-age drama set in 1960s Long Island.
JR (played at different ages by Daniel Ranieri and Tye Sheridan) is abandoned by his father at an early age and grows up with his mother Dorothy (Lily Rabe), grandparents (Christopher Lloyd, Sondra James) and uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck),
who manages a pub.
Charlie proffers words of wisdom from behind the bar, such as when JR is deliberating which subjects to take at Yale to realise his mother’s dream of him becoming a lawyer.
At university, JR faces snobbery because of his background, most notably when he spends Christmas with his girlfriend Sidney (Briana Middleton) and her well-to-do parents.
■ In cinemas from Friday and on Prime Video from January 7