Tom Holland 'scared' of Cherry role

Tom Holland was “massively scared” of taking on his role in ‘Cherry’.

The 24-year-old actor plays a soldier turned bank robber turned addict – who also suffers from PTSD – in the film and although he was keen to work with his ‘Avengers: Endgame’ directors Joe and Anthony Russo again, he was hesitant when he learned the details of the project because he didn’t know if he could do the subject justice.

He told OK! magazine: “I was on the Disney lot doing my last day of work on ‘Avengers: Endgame’ when Joe and Anthony mentioned a movie they wanted to do.

“I was immediately up for it. I was like, ‘I’m in for whatever you guys are doing. If it’s just two pages of dialogue, or an entire film, I’m there.’

“And then they sent me the book on which the story was based and I was blown away. This is something very different for me. I was massively scared too.

“I wanted to please everyone and do justice to the story and to the thousands of stories around the world that are about recovery, addiction, or PTSD. I felt a real sense of responsibility to get it right.”

Fortunately, Holland thinks he’s produced his best work, even though he admitted the shoot was so gruelling he’s unsure he could ever take on a similar role again.

He said: “When you’re telling a story as impactful as this, you have a duty as an actor to make it as truthful as possible – but I was prepared and willing to put in everything that was needed.

“I mean, I’m incredibly proud of this movie. It’s my best work and I couldn’t wait to share it with people, but I don’t know if I would do it all again. It’s definitely one of the tougher jobs I’ve had.”

And the experience taught Tom that he couldn’t handle it if he was in the army for real.

He added: “I couldn’t survive in the army.

“When we shot the boot camp scenes, there is a montage of what that process is like and how gruelling it is.

“Shooting those scenes was tough.

“We had actual army guys teaching us, which was an amazing process, and we did everything from duck walking to taking our clothes off and being shouted at.”