RDJ Gave Tom Holland The Best Advice on How to Survive Post-MCU
Robert Downey Jr. not only did his best on set to ensure the success of MCU, he's also known for mentoring young actors, now coming to join the shared universe, and advising them on various aspects of their craft.
We've covered before the advice he gave to Dominique Thorne , the actor playing Ironheart, a "successor" to Iron Man. But with Thorne he communicated only relatively briefly through the net.
On the other hand, with Tom Holland, playing Spider-Man, RDJ had a close and fairly long working relationship.
Downey in fact was instrumental for the studio casting Holland as Spider-Man. He did screen tests with candidates for the role before filming of Captain America: Civil War, and Holland's chemistry with Downey was the decisive factor for choosing him over other candidates.
And of course, the close relationship of their characters was crucial for MCU 's overarching plot, with Spider-Man's fate even providing impetus to Stark to change his mind about the viability of the whole time-jumping plan in Avengers: Endgame.
So, not only Downey helped Holland to develop his acting skills on set, keeping up with Downey was not easy at all, as he often improvised and changed his lines on the spot, but also provided him with good advice for the future, including post-MCU future. As his own career evidences, RDJ understands that you cannot play the same role forever.
"Look, Tom won't be playing Spider-Man when he's 37. At least I hope not. And when you're in the MCU, there's a feeling of all life beginning with it and ending it. But there's life outside too. I can confirm this. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt." (via)
He added: "What I am saying is there was a Spider-Man before Tom Holland and there will be a Spider-Man after Tom Holland. That's facts, Tommo. Sorry."
Given that Tom Holland since had attempted to break away from Spider-Man-like roles, for example, by starring in the gritty crime drama Cherry – if those attempts did not bring him too much success, so far – he certainly took that advice to heart.