In just a few months, Tom Holland will play another iconic protagonist in pop culture with the Uncharted movie. The 25-year-old Spider-Man actor is set to star as Nathan Drake alongside Mark Wahlberg’s Sully. They are a memorable duo in the video game world and on set, Holland has shared that he was greatly influenced by Wahlberg, especially in terms of his action star-making frame.
Tom Holland is of course jumping from his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, working alongside Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and the late Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther to name a few. But, when it came to Uncharted, he really felt the pressure was on when standing next to Mark Wahlberg. As he shared:
I saw him walk onto set in his costume and I was like, ‘Fuck, he is twice my size.’ After the lockdown, we had five months off, and I just ate and trained and ate and trained. When I got back on set, the first thing he said to me was ‘Wow, somebody has been training.’
It sounds like Mark Wahlberg convinced Tom Holland to work out more just by simply existing. On his own, the actor decided to hit the gym a bit harder than usual and as a result The Fighter star certainly noticed. While speaking to GQ, Holland also opened up about the toll the action movie took on him:
I never realized how lucky I am that Spider-Man wears a mask, because when he’s bouncing around and flying from buildings, that’s all CG. In Uncharted it’s just me in a henley and cargo pants… That film absolutely broke me.
While Tom Holland does a lot of his own stunts, there’s more opportunity for him to sit back and relax between masked stunt doubles and CGI scenes. When it comes to Uncharted, much more of the work was on his shoulders because he can’t hide behind the suit. Even with as much experience as he has already in the action front, he shared that the movie “broke” him physically.
Apparently Tom Holland developed tendinitis (which is the inflammation or irritation of a tendon) and “hurt all over.” The role of course comes five years after first debuting his role as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. The actor hasn’t had much time to stop and relax considering he has reprised his role in five other MCU movies, including a standalone trilogy and two Avengers films.
Uncharted will serve as the prequel to the popular video games, starring a young Nathan Drake and detailing how he and Sully became friends and partners. The movie directed by Venom and Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer hits theaters on February 18, 2022.
Before Tom Holland debuts his Nathan Drake, he’ll return to play Peter Parker for Spider-Man: No Way Home next month. In the holiday release, Spider-Man will face off against villains from prior Spider-Man movies including Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Jamie Foxx’s Electro in theaters on December 17.