Tom Holland on his 'last chance to play a boy' in The Odyssey

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Tom Holland on his 'last chance to play a boy' in The OdysseyImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, British actor Tom Holland says his latest role marks the start of a fresh chapterByKatie Razzall Culture and media editorPublishedJust nowTom Holland may be a bankable global superstar, but he's self-aware enough to know his latest role in Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey marks the start "of a new chapter of my life". The British actor, best known for his Spider-Man franchise, tells me it's "a real pinch-me moment". He's playing Telemachus, the only son of Odysseus - one of Greek mythology's most enduring heroes.

Telemachus was so young when his father left for the Trojan wars that he doesn't remember him - except through the already mythical stories told about his exploits, cunning and bravery. Holland, now 30, says "the thing that I love the most is that it feels a little bit like the last chance for me to play a boy". That's clearly true in real life - he is now a married man (though talking about his nuptials with US actress Zendaya is off limits in our interview).

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But on screen he shines (alongside a stellar cast) as a boy searching for the absent father he has put on a pedestal, while trying to protect his mother Penelope (played by Anne Hathaway) from the predatory men - the so-called suitors - who have taken over their palace. Image source, Universal PicturesImage caption, Anne Hathaway plays Odysseus's wife Penelope, who's also mother to their son Telemachus (Tom Holland)Holland's now-wife also appears as the goddess Athena, although - unlike in the Spider-Man movies - never on screen with her actor husband. Holland tells me he read the script with her, "which I don't know if I was supposed to".

When he met Nolan the next day, "he asked me if I would be OK with him asking Zee to play Athena… I went home and I was able to break the news to her... it was a very special moment". I ask him how Zendaya reacted.

"The little corners of her mouth went up. She had this little smile and then we both started jumping around the kitchen. "Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Left to right: Zendaya, Anne Hathaway and Lupita Nyong'o at the world premiere of The Odyssey in LondonThe film sees tour de force performances from not just Holland but Matt Damon as Odysseus, who spends 10 years fighting the Trojan wars and another 10 trying to get back home.

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Damon says that when Nolan called, he told him: 'I'd like to offer you the lead role. ' "So I just said 'Yes'. And he goes 'Don't you want to hear what it is?

And he said 'It's a two-word pitch. "Hathaway pulls off another outstanding performance as Penelope, the wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. I ask the Devil Wears Prada star, who recently announced she was pregnant, external, what she learnt about motherhood from the film.

"Well, it was really interesting to kind of translate what the world that I live in and what my idea of being a loving mother is to 3,000 years ago.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.