Robert Downey Jr. looked out for Tom Holland in the actor’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Civil War, speaking up when the young actor’s scenes were initially trimmed down. After the historic deal between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios allowed Spider-Man to be part of the MCU in 2015, Tom Holland landed the coveted role. Today, Tom Holland is one of the biggest stars in the world, partly thanks to his role as Spider-Man.
On an episode of The Rich Roll Podcast via Entertainment Weekly, Holland revealed that when he got to set on Captain America: Civil War, he discovered the eight-page scene he had auditioned with had been cut down to two pages. Holland said “My scene had been cut down significantly from what I’d done in the audition, to now a page and a half or maybe even two pages and we start shooting the scene, and Downey piped up and was like, ‘Where’d all the kid’s lines go?'” The original explanation was the script was getting too long, and they needed to trim it down, with directors Joe and Anthony Russo saying they didn’t have enough time to spend on the scene. But Downey Jr. stood by his young co-star as Holland recalled:
“Downey was like, ‘No, no, no. You’re gonna want to spend some time on this. Like, ‘Let’s shoot the whole thing from the audition. You can always cut it, but you’d wanna have it…They used all of it.”
Downey Jr.’s instinct paid off as Tom Holland’s first scene in Captain America: Civil War was seen as one of the best scenes in the film. It established Holland’s Peter Parker in just one scene, distinguishing what made the MCU version stand apart from previous cinematic incarnations of the character. It also went a long way in developing the dynamic between Peter Parker and Tony Stark that would stretch across the MCU in titles like Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Looking Out For Your Co-Stars Pays Off
This isn’t the first time Robert Downey Jr. looked out for his fellow MCU actors. In 2013, he campaigned for his MCU co-stars to get an increased pay for Avengers: Age of Ultron, as he was paid much more than the, on the original Avengers movie. Yet one has to wonder how much his fellow MCU co-stars will be paid for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars following the record-breaking payday Downey Jr. is reportedly set to bring in.
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Captain America: Civil War was a breakout role for Tom Holland, and his role as Spider-Man has made him one of the biggest stars on the planet. He is even following in Downey Jr.’s footsteps as Holland will reportedly next collaborate with director Christopher Nolan on his upcoming untitled film following Downey Jr. winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Holland and Downey Jr. will likely share the screen again in Avengers: Doomsday, as fans speculate if Peter Parker will see that the man underneath the Doctor Doom mask has the same face as his mentor Tony Stark.