'The Odyssey' is a love letter to cinema and audiences: Tom Holland

Mumbai, Jul 11 (PTI) Describing "The Odyssey" a love letter to cinema lovers across the world, Hollywood star Tom Holland, who is here for the film's India premiere, said his sense of adventure was awarded in a big way on Christopher Nolan's set, which was unlike he had ever experienced in his career. Holland, the star of multiple "Spider-Man" movies, marks his maiden collaboration with the acclaimed director with the film, adapted from ancient Greek poet Homer's epic poem "Odyssey". "There really was a sense that this movie is a love letter to cinema, and therefore to our audiences. I think feeling that pressure on a daily basis was really exciting, and in some circumstances, pressure is a privilege," the actor told reporters here. Holland is in Mumbai alongside director Christopher Nolan and co-star Matt Damon for the India premiere of "The Odyssey", the first Nolan film to receive an official premiere in the country. It is the first film to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras, and Holland said the format made the filmmaking experience feel remarkably immersive. "It was so exciting shooting those really intimate moments on an IMAX camera because it felt like when we were making the movie, you guys were already in the room with us," he said. In the film, the British star plays Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War, who waits alongside his mother, Penelope, for his father's return while dealing with those angling for the throne. From his character's perspective, the actor said he viewed "The Odyssey" as the "original coming of age" story. "Well, the adventure is something that excites me. What I love about making movies is you never really know what's around the corner, and making a movie with Chris on this scale, you really never know what's around the corner. "But the idea of self-discovery and identity I find really interesting, especially for a young kid who is becoming a man. For me, it feels very much like the original coming-of-age story. I think exploring something like that in a movie of this size was really exciting," he said. According to Holland, what makes Nolan a unique voice in the world of cinema is that he never lets the spectacle overshadow the emotional core of his stories. "I think the thing that is most surprising is that the scope and the scale doesn't come at the behest of the emotion. You'll see set pieces that are going to blow you away and things you've never seen before. But because Chris decided to shoot this movie on IMAX, he is welcoming the audience into an experience that is really unique. "You'll get to feel the heartache that Matt portrays so well. You'll get to feel the longing of Anne Hathaway's Penelope... People will watch this movie and feel a sense of connection to Chris' work and our work that feels really unique and profound," he added. The actor said he remembers the first day of on the set in Morocco vividly. He was just overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the production. "I wasn't working that day. I went to visit because I wanted to kind of get an understanding of what I was walking into, and I remember we were in Morocco and I walked over the brow of this sand dune, and it felt more like I had gone back in time than I had walked onto a film set. "The scale of what we were doing was so overwhelming. I'm looking at thousands of people in costume, hundreds of boats, the horses listing in the sand as the waves are crashing into it, and I remember an AD said to me, 'just go that way and eventually you'll find the crew.'" He added that he walked for what felt like miles before he came across Damon and Nolan at the "epicentre of this massive thing". "I just remember that day pinching myself and sort of telling myself to drink this all in because this is unlike anything that has ever been done before and probably ever again," Holland. He credited the camera crew for helping the cast maintain momentum while filming with IMAX cameras, likening the team to "an F1 pit crew" because of their speed and precision. "Working with IMAX... kind of feels a little bit like doing a stage play, where you know those moments are fleeting. There's almost an equal difference between film acting and IMAX acting because there's a subtlety that you have to bring, just because logistically you're going to be a hundred feet tall on that IMAX screen," he said. "The Odyssey" also features Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron and Samantha Morton. Produced by Universal Pictures and Syncopy, "The Odyssey" will release in theatres in India on July 16, a day ahead of its worldwide debut on July 17. PTI BK RB RB