If you don’t know someone well (or at all), it might not be the best idea to get trapped somewhere together — unless you’re paired with Will Smith.
The actor revealed that he and his Spies in Disguise costar Tom Holland had never met before today while doing a live stream with EW and PEOPLE from the film’s premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday.
“We made a whole movie together, but when you’re doing animation it’s just voice work. We literally just met for the first time,” Smith added, explaining that he recorded his part in L.A. while Holland did his voiceover work in New York City.
For fun, Smith said he and Holland bonded by doing an escape room, and apparently, they nailed it. “We were wanting to figure out if we really could do the stuff that we did as spies,” Smith explained. “We got out. It was a 1-hour escape room, and we were out in 24 minutes.”
But as Holland later revealed on the carpet, one person might deserve more of the credit. “I think Will got the majority of the clues. I was more like the hype-man in the situation. I was like encouraging him,” Holland said. “I’ve never actually escaped an escape room so the secret of escaping an escape room is do it with Will Smith because he’s really good at it.”
Spies in Disguise centers on suave super-agent Lance Sterling (voiced by Smith), who teams up with scientist Walter Beckett (Holland) to conceal his identity for an ultra-secret mission to take down an elusive criminal. To Lance’s dismay, Walter’s biodynamic concealment elixir accidentally turns him into a pigeon. But with the world in danger, polar opposites Lance and Walter must figure out how to work together to save the day.
Although voice-over work might sound easy, Holland said he learned the hard way just how challenging it can be compared to his live-action role as Spider-Man.
“It’s interesting because they’re equally as physical, but the only thing is you can’t move from the mark that you’re on. So Walter will be falling off a building after he’s tried to do some parkour, and I’ll be doing all the moves but just not moving,” Holland said. “I took the job and I was really excited, and I thought it’s gonna be an easy job — it’s just a voice-over. But it is one of the most tiring things I’ve ever done. But it’s so rewarding and I’m so proud of the movie.”
Spies in Disguise flies to theaters on Christmas Day. It also features an ensemble cast including Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Reba McEntire, Rachel Brosnahan, Karen Gillan, DJ Khaled, and Masi Oka.
Watch Holland talk about meeting Smith and the new movie below.
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