Tom Holland understands that playing “Spiderman” comes with great responsibility. He’ll take a picture, smile for fans, but he’s not going to discuss his relationship with Zendaya.
The actor tells GQ that the actress is helping him navigate fame, but won’t confirm if they are or aren’t dating,
“When everyone’s telling you that you’re the best thing in the world, you can grow up and believe that,” he tells the publication. “Having her [Zendaya] in my life was so instrumental to my sanity. She is so good at being the role model for young guys and girls. When anyone comes up, like, ‘Can I have a picture?,’ it’s never a bad time. Whereas my initial reaction was: ‘Why are you talking to me? Leave me alone.’ ”
Holland talked about being recognized, saying, “I have to remind myself that being Spider-Man is more of a responsibility than just having a job.”
But he still wants his privacy when it comes to his romantic life.
“I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway,” he says. “We sort of felt robbed of our privacy.”
When asked if he wasn’t ready to talk about Zendaya after photos of them together over the summer sparked speculation they were more than costars, he clarifies, “I don’t think it’s about not being ready. It’s just that we didn’t want to.”
“It’s not a conversation that I can have without her,” he says. “You know, I respect her too much to say… This isn’t my story. It’s our story. And we’ll talk about what it is when we’re ready to talk about it together.”