Tom Holland says his first day on the set of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film “The Odyssey” left him wondering whether he had already failed the test.
“My first day was probably one of the most daunting experiences of my career,” the actor said during Fandango’s Big Ticket interview. He was reflecting on joining Nolan’s highly anticipated adaptation of Homer’s poem, which arrives exclusively in theaters July 17.
The anxiety, Holland explained, came down to a piece of equipment he had never worked with before, IMAX film cameras.
A Three-Minute Clock On Set
Holland, who stars as Telemachus, the son of Matt Damon’s Odysseus, said he quickly grew uneasy when Nolan kept calling “cut” during one of his first scenes. He filmed this scene with co-star Jon Bernthal.
“Working with the IMAX cameras for the first time is an experience,” Holland said. “It is unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I didn’t know that it only ran for three minutes.”
Holland recalled that the frequent interruptions felt, at first, like a silent verdict on his performance.
“I remember you would continue cutting, and I was with Jon like, ‘Why does he keep cutting? Why does he keep doing that?” Holland recalled. “And in my head, I was like, ‘Does he not like what we’re doing? What is happening?”
According to Holland, a member of the stunt team clarified the situation. Stunt coordinator George Cottle explained that the IMAX film magazine holds only about three minutes of film at a time. As a result, this necessitated regular breaks for reloading.
“And then, I remember it was actually George Cottle that was like, ‘No, no, no, there’s only three minutes in the mag,'” Holland said, referring to the film’s stunt coordinator. “I was like, ‘Oh, thank God.'”
The early misunderstanding highlighted how different Nolan’s set can feel, even to an actor who has already led major franchises. Holland has fronted the Marvel Studios “Spider-Man” films and appeared in other effects-heavy productions. Yet, he said the rhythms of shooting on large-format film were “unlike anything” he had encountered.
Making IMAX History
Those constant reloads are part of a larger experiment Nolan is running with “The Odyssey”. Importantly, the project is the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras. This extends a format the director has used across more than a decade of blockbusters. These films include “The Dark Knight”, “Inception”, “Interstellar”, “Dunkirk”, “Tenet,” and the Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer”.
Nolan framed the choice as part of a long-term effort to push the technical possibilities of filmmaking.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Nolan told correspondent Scott Pelley, “In taking on ‘The Odyssey,’ it does become about scale. It needed to be the biggest film that we had done. It needed to be challenging to all of us, because that’s the nature of the story.”
By completing a full-length narrative entirely on IMAX, Nolan stressed that audiences want something new.
“If you love movies, if you love Hollywood, the history of Hollywood, the history of movies, the thing that you understand in your bones is that what the audience wants is something new,” Nolan told GQ. “They want something they don’t know they want. So the only sure thing is something that’s not a sure thing. So that’s the paradox. And it’s scary, and it’s scary for the people I work for, but that’s how you have to make movies. You have to risk it all on every project.”
The logistics of IMAX production are challenging due to the size and noise of the cameras and their short film loads, which push actors and crew to work in concentrated bursts. Holland’s confusion on the first day reflects how this technology not only alters the visual experience but also affects the pace and atmosphere on set.
From First-Day Jitters to Career Highlight
Despite a challenging beginning, Holland has called the “Odyssey” shoot one of the highlights of his professional life.
In a recent interview with GQ, he praised Nolan and producer Emma Thomas. He said their approach to filmmaking stood apart from anything he had experienced.
“Working with Chris, getting to know him and Emma was absolutely fantastic,” Holland said. “I’ve never seen someone that can work the way that they do, and there is a reason why they’re the best in the business for sure.”
He added, “To get a front row seat to that and to be a part of the process and to collaborate with a true master of his craft and learn from him was the best experience I’ve ever had.”
New Journey for an Ancient Tale
“The Odyssey” brings a text that has shaped Western storytelling for millennia into Nolan’s preferred format. Damon leads the film as Odysseus, with Holland as Telemachus. The ensemble includes Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie, Mia Goth, and John Leguizamo.
The source material follows Odysseus’ long voyage home from the Trojan War, marked by shipwrecks, strange lands and tests of loyalty. Notably, it is a seafaring framework that continues to echo across popular culture and local history alike.
On movie screens, Nolan’s project will test how far IMAX can be pushed as a storytelling tool. On his first day, Holland said he mainly felt the pressure of short, three-minute bursts of film. By the end of the shoot, he considered his collaboration with Nolan and Thomas the most rewarding of his career.
Between those two points is an off-screen journey filled with uncertainty, adjustment, and skill development, which often influences the production of ambitious films. Even when adapting one of the most famous literary stories for film, this remains true.
