Sweethearts [1] || tom holland

The Hollywood Reporter

The rising 20-year-old and 16-year-old stars from THR's Next Gen 2016 issue, where they talk about snaring a new generation of moviegoers into Spidey's web. "You've seen the billionaire [superhero], the scientist, the soldier," says Holland. "Now it's time to see the kid."

Thai is your first major acting role. How do you feel about that?
It's my first ever acting role! I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be chosen out of hundreds of other talented actresses from the role. There are so many talented young people out there who are trying to make a name for themselves. The fact that Marvel found me in that deep ocean, I feel great about myself! I feel like I'm worthy and my acting skills aren't that bad (laughs).

You're still at school right now. How do you balance school and acting?
With great difficulty (laughs). I had just finished my GCSEs three days before we started shooting. Now I'm at sixth form doing my A Levels so I can't catch a break. The good thing was at my school Marvel isn't very big so not many people recognised me but they knew I was in a film because the teachers had told them. And thankfully it didn't affect my results because I got really good grades, not to brag (laughs).

What did you think of Spider-Man as a kid?
To be perfectly honest, I didn't get into Marvel until I was 14 when I watched the Winter Soldier with my friends. I had no idea what Marvel was. My cousins were obsessed with Batman, so he's the only superhero I knew.

What did you think of the fan controversy over you perhaps playing a larger, plus-size Mary-Jane?
People are going to react over anything. But nothing [about who she is playing] is fact. Whenever we were on set, one of us gets some random character name [on the call sheet]. [Bloggers were] like, "Oh they must be so and so." And we just crack up about it, because it's like, "Whatever you want to think. You'll find out." It's funny to watch the guessing game. But of course there's going to be outrage over that because for some reason some people just aren't ready. I knew coming into this I would be ridiculed for my looks and my weight as I have been all my life. Whenever I get a disgusting or vile comment, I just think, "What kind of world do you think you're living in? There is so much more to human beings than the materialistic stuff. Don't judge a person by how they look, their personality is much more beautiful than their appearance."