Tom Holland got to tell Zendaya that Christopher Nolan wanted her for a role in “The Odyssey.”
During an interview with “Access Hollywood,” Holland explained that his own meeting with “The Odyssey” director led to him being asked if Zendaya would be open to a part as well. Nolan than asked if Holland could go home and ask her about playing Athena in the film.
“At my meeting with Chris, he asked me a question, he said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a question? And please don’t be offended by my asking,’” Holland said. “And I thought he was going to ask me, like, ‘Can we put lifts in your shoes or something to make you taller?’ I didn’t know what he was going to say. And he went, ‘Would you be offended if I asked Zendaya to play Athena?’ I was like, ‘Why would I be offended?’”
He added: “I just said, ‘Oh, mate, I would be honored. That’s amazing. I’m sure she would love to.’ And then I asked him, I said, ‘Do you want me to tell her?’ And he said, yeah. I went home, and she asked me about the meeting, and I just said to her, ‘You should read the script again.’ And she was like, ‘Well, I read it.’ I said, ‘No, no, no. Just trust me. Like, you should read it again.’ And she was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘Just read it again, but read Athena, like, really closely.’ And the little corners of her mouth went up. It was amazing.”
Holland has made his excitement for “The Odyssey” – where he plays Telemachus – very clear. And he’s set for a massive July with “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” releasing in theaters just two weeks after Nolan’s film. In fact, he managed to get the schedule for the MCU flick altered so he could be a part of “The Odyssey” – which he thinks led to the upcoming Spidey story being the strongest yet.
“I think one of the reasons why Sony were happy to move is because Chris has that reputation of, ‘This movie isn’t going to go five months over, and we aren’t actually going to lose Tom for two years,’” Holland said. “Any other director, it might have been a slightly different conversation.”
He added that switching shooting time for “Brand New Day” allowed director Destin Daniel Cretton to get the script even more honed: “He wouldn’t have been ready to make the movie when we were ready to go,” Holland said. “We wouldn’t have had the six-month period to develop the script with Destin to get it to a place where it is now. And I truly believe that we’ve made the best version of any ‘Spider-Man’ movie going. So while it was a tough pill to swallow for Sony, I think in hindsight, they’re very grateful that it happened.”
“The Odyssey” releases in theaters on July 17.
Watch Holland’s “Access Hollywood” interview below:
