More than a decade has passed since Tom Holland first donned the Spider-Man suit, and while fans might feel like they’ve uncovered every detail of his portrayal, many intriguing elements about his journey as the iconic web-slinger remain unknown. For instance, few are aware of the pivotal role Jon Bernthal played in Holland’s journey to becoming Peter Parker, a detail the actor recently shared in an engaging revelation.
When asked about Bernthal’s role in filming his Spider-Man audition, Holland chuckled, nodded, and confirmed with enthusiasm, "Yeah." He then elaborated on the interviewer’s question, reflecting on working alongside Bernthal on the movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The actor expressed how thrilling it had been for both of them to support each other in auditioning for their respective Marvel Cinematic Universe roles, as Holland had also filmed Bernthal’s audition tape for the Punisher.
Holland described the experience as a dream realized. "The journey was incredibly joyful," he shared. "We thoroughly enjoyed collaborating and were eager for future opportunities to work together because of our great rapport. When presented with the chance for me to be Spider-Man and Jon the Punisher, we envisioned endless collaborations. Although our professional paths diverged, Marvel's decision to include the Punisher in the film reignited our shared dream, leaving me beyond thrilled."
The 2017 release of the film Pilgrimage, which came after Holland's Spider-Man debut in Captain America: Civil War, brought their connection into the spotlight once more. However, as Screen Ireland documents, Pilgrimage was shot between April and June of 2015. It was roughly 11 years ago, during its production, that Holland and Bernthal aided each other in filming audition tapes for their iconic roles. Although Holland has only recently shared insights on this collaboration, he acknowledged Bernthal's influence on his success earlier. In a 2017 conversation with Birth. Movies. Death., later archived by the Wayback Machine, Holland praised his co-star's motivating role during this pivotal period.
"While I was auditioning, I was training with Jon Bernthal, trying to get into shape and really look like the character, and every time I couldn’t lift the weight, Jon would be like 'You’re gonna be Spider-Man. You’re gonna be Spider-Man' and I would say it too. It would just motivate me to keep working. I kind of feel the reason I got this role was a direct response to how hard I worked. So that now is a constant reminder of the harder you work the more you achieve. That’s such a good message to everyone; meeting these people who we work with, it’s apparent that they just never stop, and I guess that’s the reason why they are so successful."
“Tom did his audition for Spider-Man, and I did my audition for Punisher. We actually made each other's audition tapes on that film… I had never seen, he had such focus and such belief. It was so beautiful. He would say, ‘I'm Spider-Man.’ He really believed he was going to get it. And I was like, ‘There's probably a lot of people that want to be Spider-Man. I mean, you're super talented and all,’ but I was like, ‘I mean, the odds are kind of against you, but let's make the tape.’ He just had this belief. And when you get to know him and you see how he shows up, there is a reason why he is the movie star that he is."
Bernthal continued, “He's also just this insanely good athlete. All the flips and all that, he can do all that stuff for real. And I will take credit that in his audition tape, he did this thing where he sort of slid into the scene. And I gave him the note. I gave him the note. ‘Tom, you know, maybe you should sort of run up that wall and do like a double backflip and then start the scene.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you think I should do that? That's not too much.’ And I was like, ‘I don't think any of these other fools are able to do that, you know, right?’ And he, in fact, did that. So it's not that I take responsibility, but you know, a little something.”
150 Minutes
Destin Daniel Cretton
