Tom Holland says working with Christopher Nolan ‘one of proudest achievements’

Tom Holland has said “one of my proudest achievements as an actor” was starring in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film The Odyssey.

The 29-year-old stars alongside his fiancee Zendaya, Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway in the film adaptation of the ancient Greek epic, which will be released this summer.

The Odyssey has been written, produced and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Nolan, who is widely hailed as one of the most respected and influential directors in Hollywood.

In an interview with GQ Magazine, Holland revealed how he was “so touched” to be picked by Nolan to star in the highly anticipated film.

He said: “I can tell you that it is an absolute masterpiece, and I’m taking myself out of that equation. Chris Nolan’s movie is fantastic.

“It’s unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before. I think when I saw the movie, I found myself asking a question that I haven’t asked about a movie for a long time, which is, ‘How did you do that?’.

“I think with CGI and stuff like that, we’ve become so accustomed to seeing these amazing things on screen and just kind of having the basic understanding that some very clever people and artistic people are able to do that on a computer.

“But Chris is obviously trying to do everything as practically as possible in camera.”

Holland continued: “There were certain sequences in the movie where I’m watching it and I’m just sort of thinking like, ‘How on earth has he done that? That has to be CG’.

“And then after the movie asking him, ‘That was definitely CG, right?’. And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, that’s all in camera effects. Very planned, very prepared’.

“I think fans are going to be really, really blown away by the set-pieces and sequences throughout the movie, because even as someone that was there on the day and was in the film, I was absolutely blown away by the scale, the scope, (Nolan’s) ability to navigate such an intricate and heartfelt story in the middle of this insane kind of action movie.

“It’s one of my proudest achievements as an actor and I’m so touched that Chris gave me the opportunity to be in the film. And I really think that people are going to be floored by the film.”

Holland also praised the opportunity to work with award-winning actor and producer Damon, who is known for his frequent collaborations with Nolan having starred in Interstellar (2014) and Oppenheimer (2023).

He told GQ Magazine: “We spent so much time together, and what I’m really grateful for with Matt is that he is exactly what I would have hoped he would be like.

“He was a leader. This was a very tough movie and no one worked harder than Matt did.”

Holland added: “There are words of wisdom that he’s given me that I’ll keep to myself, but there’s a lot that I learned from him from just being a spectator on set and watching the legend that is Matt Damon work.”