"Tom Holland"

25:22And you go to some of these places, you go to Versailles, you go to Marseille, you go to Germany, Dortmund, and see these teams, like the way they rally together and how song just like explodes out of people somehow in unison. I don't understand how it happens. That's a true home field advantage. The first professional football match I went to was in Madrid for Atletico Madrid at their old stadium. Unbelievable. And I was not, and it was a Sunday night game. I remember it like sort of 8 o 'clock and I was not prepared for the chance and the feeling in the crowd. Nobody sat the entire match. Everybody was standing and it was electric.

25:59Just even if you weren't a fan of the sport, as a human being, it was an experience. Are you still watching rugby? I like rugby. I mean, I love rugby. I love the sport. I think it's amazing. I don't love rugby culture. Right. Rugby culture is so much about like how much can you drink? Let's all get as drunk as possible. And I don't drink, so I'm a little bit, like, out of that world. Right, right. Do you ever see Australian rules? Aussie rules is crazy. Yeah. It's sort of a hybrid of soccer and rugby. It's good. Have you ever been to one of those matches down there? It's amazing. I haven't. It's somewhat like, have you ever seen Gaelic football?

26:35Oh, yeah. Gaelic football is, I guess, like, the Irish equivalent to Aussie rules. But another sport you should check out, I think it's called hurling. Yeah, hurling. and they have like a hockey stick, but the end of the hockey stick is slightly wider. They have, I think it's a wooden ball, and they basically like flick it up, and they catch it on it, and they're bloody, they're bruised. It's brutal. You get hurt. It's sort of like, it's polo without the horses, right? Exactly. That's exactly what it is. Sounds like Quidditch. Quidditch? Oh, Sean. Hey, guys. Hey, guys. Hey, Sean, where'd you go?

27:13Quick shout out from the nerd department. Hey, guys. It reminds me a lot of Quidditch. According to the rules. Hey, Tom, with all of this, what was your first, how did you start, what was your first thing as an actor? Your first thing where you're like, I want to be an actor. I want to do this. I want to be in a play. What was your? Apparently, I used to love this one Janet Jackson song when I was a kid. Which one? I live for her. Oh, boy. I don't know what it is, but apparently my mom posted it for my birthday, a video of me as a kid dancing to it, and apparently Janet Jackson actually reposted it.

27:49Like, was it like Rhythm Nation or something like that? I don't know. I could find it. But anyway, my mom just... I was one of her backup dancers. Really? On Will & Grace. He went to the picture of the hands, that wasn't you? No. Sean and I had a dance-off on an episode of Will & Grace once. With Janet Jackson. With Janet Jackson. Jason came to taping. Yeah, you got to Google that, Tom. It's life-changing. I'm going to look that up. Yeah, it's pretty good. Okay, so wait. So you were into Janet. I would do like these hip-hop glasses on a Saturday. And I got spotted by this headmaster of this school to audition for Billy Elliot.

28:28They started training me and doing ballet and all that sort of stuff. I ended up auditioning for this show because I thought it would be fun. I enjoyed the process of auditioning. I got the gig. I got an agent through the gig. My parents were like, well, I mean, there's no harm in having an agent. They sent me one screen test, self-tape for a film. I did it. I was like 12, and I got the part. And it was this film called The Impossible with Andy Watts, which was about the tsunami. It's another one of your questions, Sean, I'm sure. It was. And then I just... Good for you, Tom. You get the picture now.

29:00You're getting it. Welcome to our life. And then I just never stopped doing it. I guess I reached that age where I was maybe 16, 17. I was like, I can either keep my head down and, like, stick with school and try and figure out what I would do if I'm going to go and get any sort of... Or keep making millions and crushing ass, right? It's a tough choice. Tom, it sounds like from a young age, you had very naturally what Jason likes to call sexy indifference. We'll be right back after these things. Because you just didn't care. I love that he's like, I just didn't care. And I just thought, yeah, I got this part.

29:34And then I got this movie. And then look what happens. Meanwhile, Sean is begging. He's that casting director. His door is a flop. Begging. He's got a new head shot. Don't know if you've seen it. Make a cross. Under the door here. Slide it under their door. Just so he could make a cross in a fucking Hawaiian punch commercial. You know what I mean? Like, just anything. Please. My payment was free product. Tom, when did you start perfecting your American accent? Because it's just, it's seamless. It's very good. And is it hard? I've asked this before. Is American accent hard to do? I think as a Brit, we're so, like, surrounded by American culture.

30:13We watch your shows, we watch your films, we listen to your music. It's a big part of our lives back home. By the way, same. We watch, we're infatuated with the Brits. Right, but we don't understand all the class differences of the British accent. Right. I do. But, yeah, I don't know. Somebody was on, I can't remember who we had on, they said one of the hardest words to say with an American accent, being a Brit, is murderer. murderer oh that was good yeah that's that's not easy murderer murderer oh shit i find l's difficult to say can you say can you say arnold palmer arnold palmer see that's hard the l is hard arnold palmer um yeah now do you get do you get conf it would be hard for me to do an accent as an actor because i would be thinking more about the pronunciation uh instead of the performance Is that a hard thing for you to separate?

31:02I think for me, with accents, I like it because it's like an immediate different side to yourself. I think the jobs where I've struggled the most is where I'm doing it in my own accent. Oh, really? It doesn't feel like enough of a departure from who I am. You have trouble leaving Tom. Yeah, and I don't know. My dad's a comic, so he's always grown up doing accents. It's something he's really good at. We grew up with him doing it always around the dinner table. So I love doing accents. Now, it sounds like you have a very... But what about you? Have you done it? Have you tried a British accent? I mean, a bit here and there, yeah.

31:38Let's hear it, Jay. No, let's hear it. It's going to be great. You don't want it right now? I mean, I would do it. If I got cast in a part, I would definitely... I wouldn't shy away from the part. But I do think there is something to focus on. Will, you say you've got your hands around the class differences and all the different English accents? Yeah, I understand it. Yeah, I could hear Tom's accent, which is, and I figured you were sort of like eastern, northeast London. Am I right about that? Southwest London, but sure. Oh, really? Is that southwest? I have a bit of a weird accent. I don't really sound like where I'm from.

32:14I sound like the people I surround myself with. Most of my mates are all fucking cockney-blind. Yeah, that's why you have a little bit of that. Like, just get the job done, do the job. Yeah, right, I try, yeah. I've lost the sort of posh twang I grew up with. Yeah, my name's Ron. My father's telling me how I should and shouldn't speak, darling. My name's Ron. I'm a plaster. He's Rod. He's a plumber. Right. We follow the spurs. That's not bad at all. Yeah, thank you. And also, because I'm spurs as well, you'd think I'm North London. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you say, well, the people you surround yourself with, it does sound like you keep a very normal circle around you and that that's not a struggle for you.

32:51You seem like a very, very normal guy. Is it something that you battle with, all of this sort of fame and fortune and permissive people around you? Is it tough for you to keep your head on your shoulders or has it come easy? I don't think so. I think my parents did a good job of, you know, keeping us in check, especially later on, you know. I think I've seen lots of friends where you become successful and all of a sudden, like, your parents rely on you to, you know, bring in the bread or keep the family going and stuff like that. And I've been really lucky that my parents have never done that.

33:23They've always been my parents. It's still, you know, I listen to my dad. If he's got something he wants to say, he won't shy away from it. And then my friends, they're all golf lads. They're all my golf mates. All we do is play golf. There's no way of getting into trouble on the golf course. I snapped my seven iron the other day, which is kind of the extent of my bad behavior in life. I felt like breaking a club the other day, and I was like, what's going on with me? It would feel so good to break this right now. And the thing that was even worse is I pured it. I absolutely, like, I played a little buttery cut.

33:53Like, I was like, I really need this to land soft. And I hit the car path, and it just, boom. And I just, over the back of my head, I was like, bow. And now, a word from our sponsor.

34:08And now, back to the show. So, Tom, when you were in the impossible, how old were you in that? I think I was just turning 14. Did you understand the weight or the gravity of being in a big movie like that? Or did you not even think about it? I actually think my youth was a real... It was great for me because I was so naive. I just looked at those experiences like some sort of summer camp. It's only now that I'm a little bit older that I'm starting to really understand the responsibility of being in a big film or a big show. I had my TV show come out. Right, right, right. Yes, yes, yes. Right. And so what's the show?

34:54Tell us about this show. The show is an anthology series called The Crowded Room. It's sort of my first kind of step. Akiva Goldsman, right? Oh, yeah. Akiva Goldsman. He's a buddy of ours. What a great guy. Love him so much. Yeah, we like Akiva. Honestly, like working with him was a dream come true. Like it's my first real time producing and he really took me under his wing and kind of explained to me the do's and the don'ts of how to do it properly. Yeah. He's just the sweetest, smartest, most experienced guy. I just can't say enough about him. He's so sweet. How old were you when you went from, when you got Captain America Civil War?

35:31Because that was the first one, right? Where you played Spider-Man. Yeah, it was like 10 days after my 18th birthday. Wait, so that was before you did Spider-Man was? Yeah. Okay. Which was actually really great because it was somewhat like my audition for the general public. Like, I got cast. There wasn't the greatest public feeling about me being cast. And then Civil War happened. And for me, it felt like my opportunity to, like, showcase what I could do in the character without having to take the weight of a standalone film. So I had three scenes in that movie. Why do you say it wasn't received well?

36:09Like the heavy-duty fans were just... I don't know. I tried not to read into it that much. It just... I guess I wasn't the top pick. I don't know how, but the list of the final six people got out, and I definitely was at the bottom of the list. So I think being cast was like a bit of a shock to the system. But then when Civil War came out and people were really happy with it and they really enjoyed my performance and thought it was really, you know, it was unique and different, there was a big turnaround. So I was lucky to have Civil War. I'll bet the great Amy Pascal came in with her great taste and said, you know what, no, Tom is our guy.

36:42I love Amy Pascal. That's great. She's my mom, my mom away from home. What was the first experience like meeting all the other Avengers actors? Like, were you starstruck? What was that like coming in the first day at work? I think it's that interesting thing where it's, you just realize that everyone's actors wearing crazy costumes, sitting in the same set chairs, eating the same Atlanta food, you know? It was obviously really amazing, and I was 18, a huge fan of those shows, so it was super exciting. I think Downey really does a good job. job of like setting the tone oh he does a good job of like how people should behave he's on time he's professional he knows his lines he knows everyone's name he's respectful would you would you agree with with me on this and the guys might too downy's the funniest motherfucker around yeah right i mean how fucking funny is danny i love he's the most frustrating scene partner out there i've never come across anyone like him you sit down you get sent the pages i write stuff i try to come up with something funny i'm trying to bring my flavor to you know sometimes pretty stale stuff yeah and you you you spit out your joke on set you think that's gonna land that's so good and he just uses your joke to set up his joke that's come fresh off the dome and you're like fuck man like that's so irritating i love that he is the best didn't he fly didn't he come in on like a helicopter or something or on the first yeah yeah he did yeah we were it was six of us, six kids that were auditioning.

38:11It's the weirdest kind of meeting I've ever had. Like, we're all sitting down, having lunch, and, like, eyeing each other up. And I'm like, I could probably take you lot physically. I don't know, like, how we could go in an acting thing. And then Downey, yeah, he flew over us in his helicopter. He landed on the helipad next door to the stage. He drove over. That's not helpful. You're already nervous. And then here comes your scene partner in a helicopter. I know. I'm such a hopeless optimist, though. Like, as soon as I saw the helicopter, I was like, I'm getting this part and I'm flying away with him after the audition.

38:42Yes. I genuinely was like, that's how the day's going to go. The audition went so well. I thought it was great. Didn't hear anything for like seven weeks. What? And, you know, at that point you sort of go, you let it go. I didn't get it. He called me back for a second audition. I did a screen test with Chris Evans, which was like a fight test. And, you know, I have a gymnastics background, so I was like, I'm fucking going above and beyond. I'm doing every flip, side flip, back flip, whatever I can do to get this part. I went home, heard nothing for like another four or five weeks. And then I was scrolling through Instagram and Marvel had posted a picture of Spider-Man and said like, if you want to find out who the next Spider-Man is, go to our website.

39:26So I went to their website. And you're like, I want to know who the next Spider-Man is. I was like, yeah. But the thing is, is I was like, it's obviously not me because they'd have more respect than just putting it online. They would call you. I went online. I read the headline. It said my name. I remember like shutting my computer and being like, this isn't, this can't be real. And this was also right around the time that Sony had been hacked. So I was like, there's something going on here. This isn't right. No way. And then an hour later, I got a call from the studio. I got a call from Sony.

39:54I got a call from my agents. Like, this is, we don't know how this has been leaked, but we've cast you. Good luck. Like, we're really excited. But it was on the Marvel website? Yeah, so I think they just tried to get ahead of the leak and make the announcement. Before they told you. And then I, in every interview, basically said, that's how I found out. So that didn't work out for them. Uh-huh. But yeah, it was crazy. Was your level of excitement, must have been through the roof, obviously, but was your anticipation of what was to come accurate with what you now have lived? Like, did you see exactly what was coming or has it been better or worse?

40:31It's been so much better. I could not have anticipated it being as fun as it was and how rewarding it's been. I think there's a stigma with those types of films. Yeah, but I bet a lot of that's your fault. You probably have just really enjoyed it. You've been a great leader. You've had fun with it, and you've created a great environment for yourself and everybody else, and that yields a lot of good stuff afterwards. Well, thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah, I think so. And I read, isn't it true that you've been a Spider-Man fan since you were a kid, right? Oh, mate, like my mum has got countless costumes that have never been washed of when I was like a four-year-old kid refusing to take it off.

41:16You know, bouncing off of the bunk beds and stuff like that. I was obsessed. And there's actually an interview of me when I was maybe 15 on a red carpet and someone said like, if you could play any superhero, who would you play? This is like seven years before it happened. or maybe not as long as that. And I said, I'd love to play Spider-Man after Andrew Garfield. Like that would be my dream. That's crazy. And it fucking came true. That's crazy. Craziest day of my life. I couldn't believe it. And now you've gone on, you've done some really cool dramatic stuff in addition to that as well. That must be nice to kind of construct your year or a few years by, you know, sort of weaving in stuff that is very different from it and working with your folks to get all that stuff squared away.

41:56Is that your goal is to try to find a real balance with all that stuff? It's not necessarily something I particularly think about. I just... Yeah, man, not everybody's a psycho. Thinking about braiding everything in, you know what I mean? I think the crowded room for me, like, yeah, it's a challenge and it's different. I think meeting Akiva, you know, you know what he's like. He is an amazing guy. I think the show has an amazing message that's really important. And I just felt, I don't know, I felt compelled to kind of jump into it and accept the challenge and see how it goes. I love that. And I don't know.

42:32I don't really know what I'm going to do next. I have taken the year off. I haven't worked at all this year. I've just been at home, honestly, just playing golf every day. You deserve it. And now you have such a massive following, just huge. I mean, and do you feel, this sounds like a cheesy question, but I really mean it, do you feel pressure or any kind of responsibility to be kind of like a role model? Not that you asked for that. but it kind of just happened? Or do you just go, that's not me, I didn't ask for it, and don't look at me as a role model, I'm just an actor? Or do you embrace it?

43:07I'll tell you something that really does stress me out is that I am so severely dyslexic that when I post on Instagram for something, I have to get like three people to proofread what I've written. Oh, wow. It really, really stresses me out because it goes out to a lot of people and you don't want to look like an idiot. Right. You know? Like my post. But no, I guess I understand the responsibility. I'm lucky that I have someone like Zendaya in my life. It's interesting being in a romantic relationship with someone that is in the same boat as you. Yeah. You know, you can share your experiences and all that sort of stuff, and that's worth its weight in gold.

43:41Yeah, for sure. I wonder, because now you've done so many big movies and massive, like, press junkets, and I remember speaking of, we started the interview saying you're 27 years old. I was 27, and that's when I first was like, I have to do how many interviews and go where and what? And it's like all of that press and the hours of the press junkets, which is an art in and of itself, by the way. But what about the first time you saw the amount of press required of you? What was that like? And do you like doing it because you're really good at it? Thanks. Yeah, I just always try and like smile and wave and never let them know how you're really feeling.

44:20Like you're on your 60th interview of the day and someone comes in and they're like, what side of the bed do you sleep on? and it's like what fuck off why do you want to know that leave me alone yeah i mean it's it's a bit of a minefield too right because you you do so much of it and i'll bet you probably want to change your answer a little bit here and there just to keep yourself entertained but then you might get into something that's a little bit spicier than you even mean to say and then now they've got a headline and that's the thing that happened to me the other day so i gave up drinking of january of last year right and by the way congrats on your sobriety and congrats on speaking so publicly about it and it helps lots and lots of people so good for you that's really great bud thank you yeah so i gave up for a multitude of reasons but really just because i wanted to take a break yeah and in taking that break it was the hardest thing i'd ever done and was like oh maybe i should look at this a little bit more seriously and elongate the break eventually i took it to my birthday june 1st and by the time i'd done six months i felt so amazing that i was like i don't think i'll ever drink ever again wow but i did an interview the other day for like an hour where i spoke about giving up drinking and then about 45 minutes later i told a joke about having a meltdown on set and wanting to cut my hair off because my hair was so crazy for this show and the headline of the article was tom holland gave up drinking after having a meltdown on set and it's like that's not even i know it makes you just want to just stop i know it's so dumb yeah well it's really tough desperate it's it's tricky yeah you gotta you gotta you gotta you gotta pick and choose well don't ever cut your hair you got good hair yeah you do uh thank you i like this bullshit my dad the other day jason was saying my dad said he said jason bateman he's definitely got a syrup and a syrup in england means a wig there's a syrup and fig wig and i said no i don't think so dad i I think that's just his hair.

46:22My dad's obviously bitter because my dad blessed him to lose his hair. And he was like, that Jason Bateman, he's definitely wearing a syrup. I said, no, dad, I genuinely think that's just his hair. Yeah, no, plus Jason never colors his hair, which is astounding. He doesn't have a gray hair on him. Yeah, people think it's either it's plugs or it's color or both, and it's just not. It's luck. It's just all you've got luck. It's got to be thinned out. Tom Holland, we've taken up way too much time. You're awesome. It's so nice to meet you. I've been such a fan for so long. And it's like you emit exactly what, you are exactly who I would hope you'd be, just like the coolest, grounded, nicest guy.

47:01That's exactly what we've heard. Keep it up, buddy. Thanks, guys. I'm a huge fan of the show. My brother and I, we're always listening to you guys, so it's an honor for me to be here. And we should play some golf. And Sean, you should come. I'll watch. Yeah, come on, Sean. You know what, though? Count me in for the poker. I love poker. Okay, done. If you're in London, we have a poker game the first weekend of every month. if you fancy it it's a lot of fun I'm gonna hit you up Tom when I come to England and we're gonna play 100 % and we'll go watch a football game yeah fantastic thank you Tommy I get to now call you absolutely thank you buddy have a great rest of the day thanks pal I appreciate it thank you guys bye buddy bye bye how nice yeah what a great guy I said it at the end there he's so wonderful I didn't know that about his drinking that's great good for him yeah yeah I wonder if that's tough with all the living in basically a frat house.

47:54I wonder if they're all not drinking too. That could be tough. I'm always kind of astounded too when somebody like him who's so young and got such big massive things happen for him in his career when he's so young, they always carry themselves so confidently and like, you know, not to repeat the Jason Bateman thing over and over again, but the sexy indifference. like they always have this like swagger that's like, yeah, I'm good if we do it. I'm good if we don't. Right. Like this, like, and it's a confidence thing that I never had at that age. It's, I don't know how, and so many people, you have it, you had it too, Jay, when you were younger too, they all have this like thing where, I don't know how they learn that or where they get that from.

48:40Well, mine was, I bought mine and should have been renting it because it went away for me. And it was an uncomfortable correction when, you know, I had some quiet times. Yeah. And it was like, oh, I don't feel so confident anymore. I'm no longer indifferent. I really want it back. And it hurt my ability to even get it back because now I'm walking into auditions desperate, you know, and really wanting something. and you start squeezing the puppy and it starts to choke out. Yeah. I squeeze the puppy and sometimes it chokes out. Uh-oh. Oh, gosh. Okay. Tom Holland was so great. So great having him on.

49:26Love that Tom Holland. Love him too. I don't mean this disrespectfully, but he's a great kid. Great kid. You know what I mean? Well, because he looks... He wouldn't... I think he knows that he looks young. I use that with people who are my age. He looks healthy. It looks like, you know, it looks thin. You know, it might be, maybe he should have a sandwich or maybe just order a nice, big, juicy rib eye. Bye. Rib eye. Happy birthday, Spartacus. Happy birthday, Spartacus. Happy birthday, Spartacus. Happy birthday, Spartacus. Happy birthday. Happy birthday.

50:06Smart. Nice.

50:13Smart Less is 100 % organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbaco, and Michael Grantary.

50:30Smart Less.