Robert Downey Jr. saved Tom Holland’s first Spider-Man scene from the cut

Tom Holland appeared on the Rich Roll Podcast and recalled how Robert Downey Jr. stood up for him during his first filming as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland debuted as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. In his first scene he played alongside Downey’s Tony Stark/Iron Man.

“When I had to push through and do my scene with Downey, it was really overwhelming,” Holland said. “I am very grateful to Downey. When I made mine [screen test]it was eight pages of dialogue. It was a long scene. It went great. My agent told me to learn the lines carefully. When I made my first record with Downey, he just started improvising and changing everything. That gave me permission to follow him. You can’t beat Downey, but you can ride his coattails. And these are good coattails to ride on. I just followed his example and we improvised. After the audition, I thought I got it. It went so well.”

“When I arrived on set after the performance, my scene had been significantly shortened compared to what I had done in the audition. It was maybe two pages now,” Holland continued. “Downey piped up: ‘Where have all the kid’s lines gone?'”

“Captain America: Civil War” directors Joe and Anthony Russo tried to explain to Downey that their script was already large and they couldn’t spend time on the entire scene that Holland auditioned for. Downey had other plans.

“Downey was the one who said, ‘No, you’re going to want to spend time on this. Let’s film the whole thing from the audition. “You can always cut it, but you’re going to want it,” Holland recalled. “And they used everything. I owe him that. That’s really cool. I’d love to do that one day… If I’m lucky enough to bring Miles Morales into the MCU, I’d love to do for a little kid what Downey did for me.”

Holland also revealed that he “wiped down the minibar” the night before his first screen test with Downey and “Marvel found out about it.” The actor has since given up alcohol and is now sober. He recently launched a non-alcoholic beer brand called Bero.

Holland’s debut as Spider-Man in Civil War made him an instant fan favorite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He then headlined his own film in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and appeared in two other standalone tentpoles and various other Avengers films. Marvel and Sony are currently developing a fourth standalone film for Holland’s Spider-Man.

Watch Holland’s full interview on The Rich Roll Podcast in the video below.