Zendaya Was Worried About Being So Much Taller Than Tom Holland When They Met for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
Zendaya and Tom Holland first met for a Spider-Man: Homecoming audition. The pair seemed to immediately click. Still, Zendaya wondered if their height difference might affect her chance of landing the role of MJ.
Zendaya wondered if her height might be a problem for Tom Holland and ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
Zendaya was one of a few actors who hoped to be cast alongside Holland in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. The superhero film was a bit of a breakthrough for Zendaya, who achieved superstardom through her work with Disney. Before her Marvel and Euphoria days, fans best knew her for the successful but short-lived sitcom Shake It Up. After the series ended in 2013, she was on the lookout for opportunities to further expand her career. That’s when Homecoming fell in her lap.
“I wasn’t supposed to know that it was Spider-Man. But I have good agents. I found out, and I was like, ‘Hell yeah, I want to be part of that,’” she told Variety in a 2017 interview.
Zendaya arrived at her audition without wearing makeup to fit her character’s style. When she met Holland, however, she revealed they had two different interpretations of their meeting.
“He says when we first met, it was super awkward because he went for a handshake, and I went for a hug,” she said. “But I don’t remember that. I thought it was cool.”
What really worried Zendaya during the audition: their height difference. Zendaya is considerably taller than Holland, which she thought might take her out of the running for Homecoming.
“I was worried because he’s so much shorter than me,” she said. “I was like, ‘Damn it! It’s going to be weird because I’m super tall.’ But then we ended up doing the audition sitting. So that was good.”
But Zendaya still wasn’t sure she’d be cast in Homecoming until it was official.
“A lot of time, the thought process of an actor of color is ‘I’m going to go and give it my best shot, but they are probably not going to go with an actor of color for this,’” she said. “We all think it. I didn’t know they were going to switch up the characters and really cast the best people for the roles instead of what’s most like the comic book. I think that was the coolest part for me, knowing they embraced the diversity.”
Tom Holland noticed he was shorter than the girls he auditioned with for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
Holland and Zendaya became a very high-profile couple after working together on Spider-Man: Homecoming. During an interview with Sirius XM, host Jessica Shaw brought up some of the public’s reactions to their dating. Shaw pointed out that a few more negative reactions contributed to the stereotype that men should typically be taller than women in relationships. Zendaya especially disagreed with the idea, citing that her parents also had a similar height difference.
“My mom is taller than my dad, my mom’s taller than everyone,” Zendaya said. “This is normal, too.”
But during the interview, Holland felt pairing him up with a taller female actor in Homecoming might’ve been intentional. He recalled how the film’s director, Jon Watts, didn’t really have Holland screentest with a shorter love interest.
“I had wondered if that was a decision that Jon had made. There was no one tested that was shorter than me,” Holland said. “Maybe that was a decision Jon Watts made and something he was aware of and wanted to break the stereotype. I think it’s great!”
