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Tom Holland shares what Zendaya told him when he received an offer to star in The Odyssey<\/em>, which was scheduled to shoot at the same time as Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Both Holland and Zendaya both star in Christopher Nolan\u2019s new action epic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n The Odyssey<\/em> is in theaters July 17<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Tom Holland<\/a> has an amusing story regarding how Zendaya<\/a> encouraged him to take a leading role in The Odyssey<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n When Holland sat down with Matt Damon<\/a>, Anne Hathaway<\/a> and writer-director Christopher Nolan<\/a> to discuss the filmmaker\u2019s latest epic with PEOPLE for this week\u2019s issue, the 30-year-old actor quipped he did \u201ca lot of thinking\u201d when Nolan, 55, first asked him to costar in the movie as Telemachus, son of Damon\u2019s Odysseus and Hathaway\u2019s Penelope.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, when I got home after our meeting, I sat down with Z and was like, \u2018I\u2019ve been offered this movie,\u2019\u201d Holland says, referencing Zendaya, the actress whom he has been in a relationship with<\/a> since 2021 and married<\/a> earlier this year. \u201cAnd she was like, \u2018By who?\u2019 And I was like, \u2018It\u2019s the big one.\u2019 And she was like, \u2018Chris?\u2019 I was like, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s Chris Nolan.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then we had Spider-Man<\/em> that was literally scheduled to go the same day that we would start shooting,\u201d he adds. \u201cZ said, \u2018I\u2019ll leave you if you don\u2019t do The Odyssey.<\/em>\u2018\u201d Cue laughter from Damon, Hathaway and Nolan.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. Well, thank you to her,\u201d Nolan responds, chuckling. \u201cHere I am,\u201d Holland adds.<\/p>\n Holland signing on to The Odyssey<\/em> required him to ask Sony Pictures executive Tom Rothman \u2014 Sony produces the Spider-Man movies \u2014 to push back production on Spidey\u2019s next entry, Brand New Day<\/em><\/a>, in order for him to make the movie, as Holland recounted to GQ<\/em><\/a> in a June feature.<\/p>\n Holland got the green light and now he and Zendaya, who plays Athena in The Odyssey<\/em> and costars in the Spider-Man<\/em> movies as Peter Parker\u2019s love interest Michelle \u201cM.J.\u201d Jones, are having a double blockbuster summer (the new Spider-Man<\/em> movie hits theaters July 31).<\/p>\n Damon and Hathaway had each worked with Nolan twice before, but Holland joined the production as a newcomer to the Oppenheimer<\/em><\/a> filmmaker\u2019s style. \u201cTom was somebody I hadn\u2019t worked with before, but I\u2019ve admired his work for years and really wanted to work with him and so we met and I convinced him to do it,\u201d Nolan recalls of their conversations prior to joining the movie.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong>PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n Matt Damon, Christopher Nolan, Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland on July 1, 2026Credit: Gavin Bond<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Nolan adds: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy jamming in between a lot of different things. He\u2019s a very busy young man, but this family came together and obviously Anne, this is the third time we\u2019ve worked together and I\u2019m just thrilled that these guys all agreed to come on board.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like to say it was a hard shoot, but hard in the right way,\u201d Nolan adds. Put to the test, \u201cthey rose to it magnificently.\u201d<\/p>\n Zendaya\u2019s ancient Greek goddess of wisdom appears alongside Damon\u2019s Odysseus throughout the movie, and Holland shared in a recent interview with Access Hollywood<\/em><\/a>that Nolan gave him the opportunity to tell Zendaya first that the Oscar-winning director wanted her for the role. \u201cI said, \u2018Just read [the script] again, but read Athena really closely.\u2019 And the little corners of her mouth . . . It was amazing<\/a>,\u201d Holland recalled.<\/p>\n