Tom Holland on Going from Hero to Treasure Hunter and Almost Burning Out

Doing two giant movies back to back would be exhausting for anyone, let alone Spider-Man.

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Tom Holland as Nathan Drake in Uncharted, standing on an open cargo platform.
Image: Sony Pictures

Since he first swung into the Marvel movies in 2016 with Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland’s had a fairly busy life. Not only has he been caught up in various Marvel movies and animated flicks, but he’s also about to don the half-tucked shirt of Naughty Dog’s Nathan Drake for Uncharted. That’s a lot of work for anyone, particularly when he had bounce between that and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter about his upcoming movie, Holland admitted that there was a bit of difficulty in transitioning from the teenage webhead to the more grounded Drake, especially in regards to their physicality. He recalled how, after going from Barcelona to Atlanta to shoot Home, producer Amy Pascal asked him why he was “walking like a man.” It was something he didn’t even realize he was doing, and it took some time to shape a true difference between his two protagonists. He also had to put himself in the right mindset between the two characters, as Drake is fairly cooler than Peter Parker. “Historically,” said Holland, “I’ve always sort of played the outsider who doesn’t particularly have many friends...Drake is the complete opposite, and that was something that took me awhile to get used to.”

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Going from one blockbuster to another, Holland opened up about how, even though he tried his best to not burnout, he came extremely close. While filming Uncharted, he knew he had to ask for a weekend off because “if not, I’m sort of going to fall apart.” Sony gave him that time off, and he was more than happy to praise the company for giving him the break that he almost didn’t realize he needed. And though it was “tough,” he still found working on both films pretty rewarding.

Uncharted’s hype is slowly growing as its February 18 releases draws closer. Looking back, Holland admitted that his first go-to memory of the film and the moment he’s most proudest of is its much publicized plane stunt. “The day I got hit by a car was pretty impressive,” he remembered. “I think it’s one of the best stunts in the movie...It’s a pretty cool thing when someone says, “How was your day today?” And I’m like, “’Hey, I got hit by a car 17 times.’”

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