Tom Holland and Zendaya have become fan-favorites in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for both their roles as Peter Parker and MJ, as well as their real-world chemistry together. Despite their height differences, the two have been a powerful couple both on and off screen. Now Tom Holland has stated he doesn’t care about his height difference with Zendaya, who is notably taller than Holland.
He discussed as much while speaking on Sirius XM Town Hall. It was when host Jessica Shaw brought up the height difference during their kiss scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which prompted Tom Holland to quickly respond.
As he stated:
“Not that much taller. Let’s put this out there. Maybe like an inch or two at best. It’s not like, people say like, ‘How did you guys kiss? It must have been so difficult.'”
Host Jessica Shaw then noted that she believes the focus on height differences between men and women are both “misogynistic” and “problematic.” Naturally, both Tom Holland and Zendaya agreed. They even called it a “stupid assumption” that it should be an issue, and Zendaya stated her parents have the same type of height difference.
“This is normal too,” she added. “My mom is taller than my dad. My mom’s taller than everyone.”
Jacob Batalon, who also appeared on the show, also agreed with his friends:
“It’s not a weird thing for women to be tall,” he stated.
What’s more, Tom Holland noted that during the initial Spider-Man screen tests, every girl they tested happened to be taller than him.
“I remember when we were doing the Spider-Man screen tests… but every girl that we tested for both roles was taller than me,” he explained. “I wonder whether that was a decision [director] Jon [Watts] had made. There was no one that tested that was shorter than I was.”
Tom Holland continued:
“To be fair, I am quite short,” he stated. “So maybe that was a decision Jon Watts made and something he was aware of and wanted to break the stereotype. I think it’s great.”
Furthermore, Zendaya explained how the height difference made their kiss scene even better. As it turns out, she believes it’s a great way to make things feel more normalized.
“Often having to cheat it and pretend like… why not just let it be?”
Similarly, Jacob Batalon noted:
“It just sucks that it has to be a conversation,” Batalon began. “Like it can’t just be normal.”
Which, for Zendaya, it is. She noted her parents had the same height difference but always treated it as a normal thing. As such, she was surprised to find out that people made a bigger deal out of it than necessary. As such, it’s nice to know these new Spider-Man films similarly treat height differences as a normal thing, as they should be.
The upcoming MCU film was directed by Jon Watts from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
Tom Holland, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Foxx, Alfred Molina, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori, and Hannibal Buress are all attached to appear.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to hit theaters on December 17, 2021.