Zendaya and Tom Holland Were Told Not to Date by a ‘Spider-Man’ Producer

It looks like Zendaya and Tom Holland were specifically asked not to fall for each other before filming their first Spider-Man movie.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Amy Pascal—the former Sony movie exec behind the first five Spider-Man movies, as well as a producer on the last three Holland-helmed films—gave the costars the same advice she once gave Garfield and his now ex-girlfriend/costar Emma Stone. 

In case you don’t know, Tobey Maguire dated Kirsten Dunst, the Mary Jane to his Peter Parker, while filming Spider-Man (2002) together. The pair broke things off ahead of the second film, according to director Sam Raimi. Since then, it’s become somewhat of a tradition for the Spider-Man romantic leads to make life imitate art. Andrew Garfield began dating his costar Emma Stone while filming The Amazing Spider-Man in 2011. They didn’t split until 2015. (Here is where I argue that Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson also fit the bill.)

Pascal was hoping to break the pattern when it came to Holland and Zendaya. “I took Tom and Zendaya aside, separately, when we first cast them and gave them a lecture: ‘Don’t go there — just don’t. Try not to,'” she told the NYT. “I gave the same advice to Andrew and Emma. It can just complicate things, you know? And they all ignored me.”

Ignored her, indeed. The alleged couple met on the set of Spider-Man back in 2016 and hit it off right away. While fans have been speculating about the nature of their relationship for years, reports of their relationship were seemingly confirmed when photos of them kissing went viral in July 2021. 

Still, neither Zendaya nor Holland have officially confirmed their relationship. “I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private because I share so much of my life with the world anyway,” Holland told GQ in November. “We sort of felt robbed of our privacy. I don’t think it’s about not being ready—it’s just that we didn’t want to [talk about it].”

He added, “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.”

However, that hasn’t stopped the pair from showing off their affection towards one another during their latest press tour. Holland has called Zendaya “beautiful” during red carpet interviews, while the Dune star described him as “my Spider-Man” in an Instagram post. Most recently, Zendaya referred to Holland as “sweetheart” when he mispronounced the word “quizzes” as “quizzies” in an adorable Buzzfeed video.

Yeah, it looks like the tradition has lived on.