Working with Christopher Nolan for the first time is intimidating enough. Now imagine spiraling into full self-doubt before you even know why the director keeps cutting your scene.
That’s exactly what happened to Tom Holland on his first day shooting Nolan’s epic adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. Holland stars as Telemachus, son of Matt Damon’s Odysseus, in a cast stacked with names like Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson. But before any of the scale or spectacle registered, Holland found himself convinced he was blowing his big shot.
The Marvel star recently opened up about the experience, and it turns out the whole thing came down to a technical detail nobody had explained to him ahead of time.
Tom Holland Explains Why He Thought He Was Bombing His First ‘Odyssey’ Scene
Speaking in an interview with Fandango, Holland didn’t realize IMAX cameras can only run for about three minutes before needing a reload. So every time Nolan called cut mid-take, Holland assumed it was because his performance wasn’t landing.
“I remember he would continue cutting … In my head I’m thinking, ‘Does he not like what we’re doing?’ … I thought I was totally shitting the bed,” Holland said.
It’s a relatable moment for anyone who has ever spiraled over a boss’s silence, except this boss happens to be a seven-time Oscar winner and Holland was making his debut in a Nolan production spanning Greece, Sicily, Morocco, Scotland, and Iceland.
Nolan shot The Odyssey entirely on IMAX film, a format he’s been refining since The Dark Knight, and the technical demands of that format clearly created some unexpected first-day jitters for his new leading man.
Holland previously worked alongside Zendaya in the Spider-Man trilogy, but The Odyssey marks his first time in front of Nolan’s camera, something he’s talked about as a genuine pinch-me moment despite the early nerves.
The anecdote adds a human touch to a production that’s been defined by its massive scope, from Damon’s yearlong physical transformation to the film’s use of never-before-seen IMAX technology touted by IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond.
The Odyssey sails into theaters on July 17, 2026, following its global premiere stops including Mumbai on July 10 and 11.
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