Tom Holland says Zendaya joked that she would leave him if he turned down The Odyssey.
In an interview with People published Wednesday, Holland said he initially faced a dilemma when Christopher Nolan offered him the role of Telemachus in his latest film.
“Honestly, when I got home from our meeting, I sat down with Z and said, ‘I got offered this movie,’” Holland said, recalling a conversation with Zendaya, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2021.
Holland said she immediately knew the offer came from Nolan after he told her it was “big.”
However, one scheduling conflict got in the way, prompting Zendaya to joke about what he should do, he said.
“And then we had Spider-Man, which was supposed to come out literally the same day we started shooting,” Holland said. “Z said: I will leave you if you do not take part in the Odyssey.”
In June, Holland told GQ that he had to have a “very unpleasant conversation” with Sony Pictures’ Tom Rothman to reschedule production on Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The film franchise is produced jointly by Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios.
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Holland said he believes Sony agreed to delay production because Nolan has a reputation for finishing his films on time.
“With any other director, the conversation might have been a little different,” Holland told GQ.
Things eventually worked out, and Holland and Zendaya appeared together in both The Odyssey, which hits theaters July 17, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opens July 30.
Beyond the big screen, the couple also celebrated a major milestone this year. In a June interview with Esquire, Holland confirmed his marriage to Zendaya.
The actor said AI-generated Lake Como wedding photos circulating online briefly fooled his grandmother into thinking she wasn’t invited. Asked if he had to send similar messages to other relatives, Holland replied: “No, because they were all there.”