Jake Gyllenhaal Recalls How ‘Spider-Man’ Costar Tom Holland Helped When He Forgot Lines: ‘Just Relax’

Jake Gyllenhaal leaned on costar Tom Holland when assimilating into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 40, played supervillain Mysterio in the 2019 sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home opposite Holland’s titular hero. Appearing on The Howard Stern Show last week, Gyllenhaal recalled the pressure he put on himself on set and how Holland, 25, helped him through it.

“It’s hard, man. That acting is hard. I mean, all of it. That world is enormous,” he said of performing in the popular blockbusters. “[It was] a situation that was a train that was already moving. For me, normally I come in way early on and I get to play and I get to figure it out. It was like, you gotta deliver in that space. It was a whole different craft.”

“The first day of shooting,” continued Gyllenhaal, “I remember not being able to remember my line. I was the wooden board. And they were like, ‘Whoa.’ And I went up to Tom Holland and was like, ‘Dude, help me out.’ He’s like, ‘It’s all good. Just relax.’ It was like he was me in so many situations. And I finally did [relax], but I think I just put a lot of pressure [on myself] because I love that world.”

He joked of costar Samuel L. Jackson‘s ease while making the Marvel movies: “Sam Jackson [is] just rollin’ with it, throwing out improv, they’re changing movies around him, and I was like, can’t even barely get my line out!” he said with a laugh.