Arizona Tribune - Nolan's 'Odyssey' script is 'best I've ever read,' says Tom Holland

First up will be Christopher Nolan's epic adaptation of "The Odyssey," out mid-July. Holland plays Telemachus, the son of the saga's hero Odysseus and a key character in the Ancient Greek saga.

"The script is the best script I've ever read," Holland, who recently wrapped filming in locations around the Mediterranean, tells AFP.

The movie is Nolan's follow-up to "Oppenheimer," and again boasts an A-list cast, including Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron -- and Zendaya, Holland's fiancee.

"Chris [Nolan] is a real collaborator. He knows what he wants... but it is not an environment where you can't pitch ideas or build characters in certain ways," enthuses Holland.

The two Brits have not worked together before, but have plenty in common.

Nolan directed the Batman "Dark Knight" trilogy. They stand alongside Holland's "Spider-Man" movies among the superhero genre's most successful and beloved movies.

Just days before Holland spoke to AFP, photos circulated of him shooting an action sequence for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" in Glasgow, with the Scottish city standing in for New York.

For Holland, donning the Spidey suit for his seventh overall Marvel movie, it still "feels like the first time."

"Yesterday, I was on top of a tank driving down the high street in Glasgow, in front of thousands of fans, and it was awesome," he said.

"It was so incredible, it was exciting, and exhilarating, and it felt fresh."

The film is due out late July, just two weeks after "The Odyssey."

- 'Toxic' technology -

Holland's take on Peter Parker -- aka Spider-Man -- has always stood out from previous versions for its especially playful, youthful energy.

Those qualities are also central to "Never Stop Playing," a new campaign and short film fronted by Holland for The LEGO Group, which warns that children today feel pressured into growing up too fast.

"With screens and phones and iPads and Instagram and all these sorts of toxic pieces of technology, it was really nice to be a part of something that is a tangible product," says Holland.

Holland, 29, says his generation is lucky to have grown up at the dawn of social media, when the technology was less pervasive and destructive than it is now.

"I think that it puts young people under a certain amount of pressure, to maybe not necessarily be themselves, but be versions of themselves that the internet want them to be," he says.

"By the time my peers are having kids, we'll understand the dangers of social media and kids living in the spotlight."

- Zendaya -

Holland's engagement to "Spider-Man" co-star Zendaya drew global headlines earlier this year, after she was spotted wearing a giant, gleaming engagement ring to the Golden Globes.

As for the topic of children, "I haven't embarked on that part of my life yet," Holland says.

"But keeping a keen eye on the access young people have on the internet is very important. I'll definitely be buying them LEGO before I'm buying them a phone," he says.

For now, Holland is excited to keep imbuing his Spider-Man with that youthful vigor, which "really is just who I am -- it's kind of like a heightened version of myself."

"It's very important to never lose that eagerness to play," he says.

As Holland has grown older and become more famous, "I've become slightly more introverted, and kind of yearn for a bit more of a private life at times," he reflects.

"But I think that kid in me will always be there."

A.O.Scott--AT