Spider-Man actor Tom Holland admits he was drunk when he helped bring the web-slinger back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the actor opened up about his experience following the collapse of the deal that had allowed the Sony-owned Spidey to appear in Disney-owned Marvel Studios films.
"We were at D23, which is the big Disney convention, and the news had come out and I was obviously devastated. I was really upset..." Holland explained. "It was not the best day. I asked if I could get Bob Iger’s email because I just wanted to say, ‘Thank you. This has been an amazing five years of my life. Thank you for changing my life in the best way and I hope that we can work together in the future.’ And I got his email, I sent him the email and then he responded very quickly saying 'I’d love to jump on the phone at some point. When are you free?' And you don't give Bob a schedule. You say, 'Whenever, Bob!'”
However, Iger would eventually call Holland at an inconvenient moment: when he was intoxicated. "Two, three days go by and then my family and I went to the pub quiz in our local town..." Holland recalled. "We’re doing a quiz and I’m three pints in, haven’t eaten much, and I get a phone call from an unknown number and I have a feeling. I’m like, ‘I think this is Bob Iger but I’m drunk.’"
Holland admitted to weeping during the call, saying, "I was really emotional because I felt it was all coming to an end."
Ultimately, though, Holland says the drunken, emotional phone call started a conversation between Iger and Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tom Rothman, which culminated in a new deal between Sony and Disney being struck.
Holland also confirmed Sony did have a plan for where to take Spider-Man without Disney but seems thankful those plans did not come to pass. "It would've been a shame to take him out of the MCU," he said. "It's where he belongs and we've built such a strong character out of that world and it would've been a shame to lose that."
Helmed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Far from Home stars Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J.B. Smoove, Jacob Batalon and Martin Starr, with Marisa Tomei and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film is available now on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD.