This film is your fifth Spider-Man, how does it feel?
It's amazing to be doing this for the fifth time. It feels like yesterday that I got cast in this role, and here I am doing it again. Of all the films I've done in this [Marvel] universe, this one I'm
most proud of. It was the hardest one to make; it's the biggest feat and the biggest risk we've ever taken with the character.
Why the hardest?
Because the expectations are so high. We're coming off the back of [Avengers] Endgame and we don't want to disappoint in any way, so we knew the stakes for us as filmmakers were much higher. And physically, we really pushed the stunts to the limit in this film. I don't want to compare myself to Tom Cruise but there's a sequence in the film, in Venice, where there is an entire action sequence and I'm without a mask on so I had to do 90 per cent of the stunts myself. Stuff like pole vaulting up a 9m bridge, running across poles and flipping off buildings. It was really crazy. I got a few knocks and bruises but it looks great.
How has the Spider-Man suit evolved during the years?
It's funny. The one thing I asked for was a zipper so I could go to the bathroom and they didn't give me one. The biggest change was in the first one I had to wear a helmet and it broke one day and cut my face really badly. We had to reconfigure that so the helmet under the suit was much more comfortable this time round but I was still unable to go to the toilet. On the first film, I spent 11 hours in the suit one day and I rang my mum and said, "Mum, I had a really tough day today. I had the suit on for 11 hours and I didn't go to the toilet." She hung up the phone a little bit angry. The next day, the producer walks up to me and he goes, 'Hey Tom, can we talk?' I was like, 'Sure, yeah, what's happened?' I thought I was in trouble. He goes, 'Your mum called yesterday, and she basically said to me, you need to let my son go to the toilet!' So, good old Mum was looking after me.
Now that you're an established action hero, I'm guessing women are falling over themselves to meet you?
I don't really know how to answer that question. I play golf an awful lot. I haven't really noticed a difference, to be honest. I think I've done very well in my career of being in the spotlight only when I need to be. I very rarely go to a premiere of a film and I very rarely go to a high-profile party. I like to live a regular life when I'm not doing this irregular job.