Tom Holland reveals Zendaya’s savage 'ultimatum' that led to his role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
Tom Holland has opened up about the brutally funny 'ultimatum' his wife Zendaya gave him when he was deciding whether to sign on for Christopher Nolan's latest cinematic masterpiece, The Odyssey.
The 30-year-old actor admitted he found himself in a tricky spot after Nolan offered him the role of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, because filming clashed with the next Spider-Man movie.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Holland recalled telling his wife Zendaya, 29, about the offer after meeting with the Oscar-winning director.
"To be honest, when I got home after our meeting, I sat down with Z and was like, 'I've been offered this movie,'" he said.
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According to Holland, Zendaya instantly worked out who the offer had come from after he described it as 'the big one'.
There was just one problem, however.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day had been scheduled to begin filming on the same day as Nolan's blockbuster.
"And then we had Spider-Man that was literally scheduled to go the same day that we would start shooting," Holland explained. "Z said, 'I'll leave you if you don't do The Odyssey.'"
Holland previously told GQ he had to have a 'very uncomfortable conversation' with Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman to rearrange production on Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
"So I said to Chris, like, 'Look, I want to do this movie, but if I’m going to do it, I’m going to have to call Sony and have a very uncomfortable conversation,'" he recalled, adding that Nolan's reputation for delivering films on time likely helped smooth things over.
"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."
Everything eventually fell into place, meaning Holland and Zendaya were able to star in both projects together.
The couple are set to reunite on screen again in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is set to hit cinemas later this month (30 July).
The Odyssey, which landed in cinemas today (17 July), is Nolan's ambitious adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic.
Alongside Holland, who plays Telemachus and Zendaya starring as Athena, the goddess who guides Odysseus throughout his journey, Matt Damon leads the cast as Odysseus.
The star-studded line-up also includes Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Robert Pattinson as Hermes, Charlize Theron as Circe, Lupita Nyong'o as Clytemnestra, Jon Bernthal as Antinous, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, Mia Goth as Clytemnestra's handmaiden, Elliot Page as Perimedes and John Leguizamo as Eumaeus.
Topics: Celebrity, Zendaya, TV And Film, Cinema, Sex and Relationships
Rhiannon Ingle