Tom Holland recently explained how Robert Downey Jr. saved his first Spider-Man scene in Captain America: Civil War.
What did Tom Holland say about his MCU debut in Civil War with Robert Downey Jr.?
In an interview with the Rich Roll podcast, Holland spoke about his Marvel debut as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Civil War. Holland’s first scene was opposite Downey’s Tony Stark/Iron Man. Holland recalled the “great” screen test he completed with Downey to secure the role.
“I am very grateful to Downey,” Holland said. “When I did my [screen test], it was eight pages of dialogue. It was a long scene. It went great. I was told by my agent to learn the lines exactly. When I did my first take with Downey, he just started improvising everything and changing it all. That gave me license to follow him.”
When it came time to shoot that same scene for Civil War, directors Joe and Anthony Russo removed more than three-quarters of it to save time. Downey wasn’t having it and fought to keep the entire scene in the movie.
“When I got to set after I got the gig, my scene had been cut down significantly from what I did in the audition,” Holland explained. “It was now maybe two pages. Downey piped up, ‘Where did all of the kid’s lines go?’”
Holland continued, “Downey was the one who said, ‘No, you’re going to want to spend time on this. Let’s shoot the whole thing from the audition. You can always cut it, but you’re going to want to have it. And they used all of it. I owe that to him. That’s really cool.”
Holland added he’d love to help out the live-action Miles Morales if given the chance, similar to how Downey aided him.
Holland and Downey are returning to the MCU. Holland will headline Spider-Man 4 and appear in the upcoming Avengers films. Meanwhile, Downey has signed on to play Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
