Jon Bernthal Takes ‘a Little’ Credit for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Role

Jon Bernthal takes “a little” bit of credit for his friend, Tom Holland, landing the role of Spider-Man. 

The Accountant 2 and Spider-Man actors were working together on the 2017 film Pilgrimage when they both were prepping their auditions for their respective Marvel characters. Bernthal took on the role of The Punisher in the 2017 series of the same name while Holland made his debut as Spidey in Captain America: Civil War in 2016.

“We did a film about seven or eight years ago,” Bernthal said during a Thursday appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in reference to Pilgrimage. “That was where both Tom did his audition for Spider-Man and I did my audition for Punisher. We actually made each other’s audition tapes [working] on that film.” 

As they began working on their auditions, Bernthall recalled Holland’s “focus” and “belief,” adding that “he really believed he was going to get it” and “would say, ‘I’m Spider-Man.’”

“I was like ‘There’s probably a lot of people that want to be Spider-Man. I mean, you’re super talented and all, but the odds are kind of against you, but yeah, let’s make the tape,’” he said. “He just had this belief, and when you get to know him and see how he shows up, there is a reason why he is the movie star that he is.” 

The Daredevil: Born Again actor joked that he does take “credit” for part of Holland’s success as the Marvel superhero because he encouraged him to show off his athleticism by incorporating a stunt into this audition reel. “I gave him the note, ‘Tom, maybe you should run up that wall and do a double backflip and then start the scene.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you think I should do that? That’s not too much?’”

“I was like, ‘I don’t think any of these other fools are able to do that,’ and he in fact did that,” he said. “It’s not that I take responsibility for him, but you know, like a little something.”

Jimmy Kimmel applauded Holland’s talents in the role, stating that “He’s the best Spider-Man ever,” to which Bernthal corroborated: “Ever, without a doubt.”

While both Bernthal and Holland are still avid Marvel stars, the duo will reunite on the big screen for the first time since 2017 in Christopher Nolan’s next feature The Odyssey. The film has quite a star-studded cast, including Matt Damon, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie and Elliot Page, among others.