Tom Holland has said he wouldn’t recommend every film in his career as worth watching, saying there have been times during press tours when he secretly thought the movie was “s**t”.
The British actor has been promoting his two latest releases back-to-back, and spoke about how he was “absolutely loving” the press run. “When you’re doing press for movies you’re really proud of, it’s really easy. Because when they ask you questions about why should people go and watch this movie, you’re not lying to anyone. You really think people should go see it,” he said on the Dish Podcast.
“I’ve had experiences before when people say, ‘Why should you see this movie?’ And in the back of your mind, you’re like, ‘You shouldn’t, because it’s s**t.’”
Holland is playing Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which follows Odysseus’s decade-long journey home after the Trojan war as he faces mythical creatures, hostile gods, and repeated trials before reuniting with his wife, Penelope.
It also stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie and John Leguizamo.
Holland is also reprising his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the fourth standalone Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film also stars Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando and Mark Ruffalo.
“It’s felt really like a bit of a victory lap, to be honest,” Holland said of his current press run. “I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m super proud of both of the films.
“I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with Anne Hathaway for the last three days and doing press with her,” Holland added, on sharing the film’s press tour with his The Odyssey co-star. “For me, that’s been an awesome learning experience. She’s such a pro.”
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The Odyssey, which was released on 17 July, has opened to strong critical reviews, with The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey calling it “Nolan’s best work to date” in her five-star review.
“Nolan’s “stamp is all over the film – this is intellectual, brutalist, muscular Hollywood fare – yet it never wavers in its commitment to, and comprehension of, its source text,” she wrote. “There is not a single decision here that’s been thoughtlessly made, nor that I imagine Nolan himself couldn’t easily defend, much to the imagined chagrin of certain lawless parts of the internet.”
The Oscar winner’s film adaptation of the Greek epic has grossed $639.6m worldwide, after opening takings of $264.1m worldwide, the biggest of Nolan’s career.
The Odyssey is screening in cinemas now, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released in theatres on 31 July.
