Tom Holland wants to clear something up: that ‘If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong’ quote was taken out of context.
“What I basically was trying to say is that if I am 30, still playing Spider-Man and I haven’t passed on the baton to a Miles Morales or a Spider-Woman or something more diverse, then I will have done something wrong in the sense of the sort of duties I have to the character,” he tells me.
“Not the like, if I’m playing Spider-Man in my 30s I’m like some washed up has-been. That’s not what I was saying.”
Nathan Drake, the character he plays in Uncharted, based on the beloved Sony video game franchise, and opening February 10 across the Middle East, however, is a character he feels is built for him to grow into.
“So for me, I could see myself playing this character into my 30s. I’m very confident in the film’s and the project’s capabilities to succeed. And I think we have a really special bit of material on our hands,” he tells me.
That doesn’t mean that the character didn’t bring with him unique challenges.
“I’ve been playing this kind of happy-go-lucky, innocent teenager for so long. And Nathan Drake is supposed to be this young, confident, strong 25-year-old, which is not really what I’m like in real life. For me to embody that character was quite daunting. And at times, I felt like I was faking it. For me, that was the hardest part, but something I’m pretty confident I got right,” Holland continues.
Read and watch our full conversation below:
Have you learned to say no yet? Was there a moment that you felt with Uncharted that you push yourself too far, or have you found your boundary?
It’s about having respect for yourself, but also making sure that people respect you. And that is giving the studio confidence that in your capabilities, but also in your work ethic. Then they understand that when you’re asking for a break, it’s for no other reason than you need it. And I think Sony are well aware of how hard I work, and how much I like to push myself.
Honestly, it’s more often that it will be my brother, or my security guard Jack, who will say to the studio, ‘why don’t you make sure he has a two-day weekend this week, because he’s going to run out of gas’.
I have sort of learned to say no, where it’s necessary. But the great thing about working for Sony and [Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO] Tom Rothman, Ruben Fleisher, and Alex Gartner and our producers is that if I say, ‘guys, I need a break’, it is genuinely because I need a break. And that’s because of how hard I like to work.
Where did you feel most tested here?
I think there’s two ways I felt most tested. The stunts were incredibly hard, just because I’ve been so used to the Spider-Man world where you have an element of this safety blanket where you can rely on CGI. In this film, that is not so much the case.
Where I really struggled was, I’ve been playing this kind of happy-go-lucky, innocent teenager for so long. And Nathan Drake is supposed to be this young, confident, strong 25-year-old, which is not really what I’m like in real life. For me to embody that character was quite daunting. And at times, I felt like I was faking it. For me, that was the hardest part, but something I’m pretty confident I got right.
You said previously, ‘If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong.’ This is a role that you can really grow into. Do you think you could do Nathan Drake until 50?
That quote, I think, has been slightly misconstrued. What I basically was trying to say is that if I am 30, still playing Spider-Man and I haven’t passed on the baton to a Miles Morales or a Spider-Woman or something more diverse, then I will have done something wrong in the sense of the sort of duties I have to the character. Not the like, if I’m playing Spider-Man in my 30s I’m like some washed up has-been. That’s not what I was saying.
Yeah, only making billion-dollar movies every year. What a has-been!
No, exactly. So for me, I could see myself playing this character into my 30s. I’m very confident in the film’s and the project’s capabilities to succeed. And I think we have a really special bit of material on our hands.
What’s the best piece of advice that Mark Wahlberg gave you?
Mark Wahlberg gave me a piece of advice years and years and years ago before we’d work together, and he said to me on a chat show that I should move to LA with all my boys and get a ******* ********* license. And actually the best piece of advice was from my mom who said don’t do that. And I didn’t.
I won’t be able print that but I appreciate the candor. Thanks, buddy. Great talking to you.