For the most part, Tom Holland is known for his delightfully bouncy portrayal of Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man movies – bringing a believably teenage lightness to the character that previous incarnations haven’t quite mustered. But beyond the MCU, the actor has been ploughing into darker fare – first with last year’s grimly gothic multi-stranded drama The Devil All The Time, and now in Cherry, the story of a young man’s journey from loved-up college student to bank robber, via the Iraq War and a subsequent opioid addiction. It’s a role that demanded much of Holland, displaying all different kinds of shades – but it was a pair of familiar directors that knew he could pull it off.
That’s because Cherry is also the latest the film directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who previously helmed Captain America: Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame – and so have worked with Holland plenty over the last few years. “Our understanding of who Tom is, and what he’s capable of, is really intimate,” Anthony Russo tells Empire of casting the actor in their latest film. “We could see the connection between him and his character in ways that probably nobody else could.” And in casting him for Cherry’s lead, it was to tell a story that means a lot to both brothers. “The novel spoke to us very powerfully,” Anthony says. “We’ve been touched by that crisis in very personal ways. We have people close to us who have suffered from it, from addiction, and even died. So it seemed like a movie we wanted to make right now.”
Read Empire’s full story on Cherry in the new issue ofEmpire – which brings Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood together for the first time ever in a massive celebration of Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings in their 20th anniversary year. On sale 18 February, or pre-order online here. Cherry comes to Apple TV+ from 12 March.