Tom Holland Talks About Being Mentored By, “In Awe Of” Chris Hemsworth

At the press junket for In The Heart of the Sea, Tom Holland was quite complementary to his co-star Chris Hemsworth. The young actor talked about how the other actors, along with director Ron Howard, mentored him on the set of the film, helping him acclimate to a big-budget production like this. It was his first, filmed before his cameo as Spider-Man in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and presumably the first of many interactions he’ll have with Hemsworth, who is of course Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“The lucky thing for me is that my character, Thomas Nickerson is completely in awe of Owen Chase,” Holland told ComicBook.com. “When he first meets Chase, he’s this big guy, he’s terrifying, fearless, brave. Thomas Nickerson’s this little kid, completely wide-eyed and new to this world. When I walked onto Ron’s set, I was the new kid. I had never been on a film this big, and I was completely in awe of Chris for like the first two weeks.”

At that point, Hemworth made a bit of a shocked face, as if to say “Just the first two weeks?”

“Then I realized he’s just a big kid,” Holland said with a laugh. “Working with Chris was great, working with everyone was great. It was a great experience, and you always learn a lot in a film like this.”

“But you were disappointed,” Hemsworth joked with his young costar.

As for his greatest lesson, Holland credited that to his director.

“The most important thing I learned from Ron is that you can never be too prepared. The more preparation you do, the better you’ll be at making the film. Reading the books, learning to sail, getting into shape, and losing the weight, I really think is what makes this film what it is. So for me, my most valuable lesson for this film is that you can never be too prepared,” Holland said.

Hemworth wouldn’t let it go, though, as Holland had said earlier in the conference that he never finished reading “Moby Dick,” the book that was inspired by the true events of the story they told.

“That’s why he didn’t read Moby Dick,” Hemsworth deadpanned. “I learned my lesson – that was when I was learning it!” Holland said through laughter in his defense.

Better go start reading those Spider-Man comics, young man.

In the Heart of the Sea, telling the true story that inspired “Moby Dick,” debuts December 11, 2015, starring Tom Holland, Chris Hemsworth, Ben Walker, and Cillian Murphy, and directed by Ron Howard.