Actor Tom Holland has revealed that he was the one who informed Zendaya about filmmaker Christopher Nolan wanting her to join the cast of his upcoming epic film The Odyssey.

During an interview with Access Hollywood, Holland said Nolan asked him during a meeting whether Zendaya would be interested in playing Athena in the film.

“At my meeting with Chris, he asked me a question, he said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a question? And please don’t be offended by my asking’,” Holland said. “And I thought he was going to ask me, like, ‘Can we put lifts in your shoes or something to make you taller?’ I didn’t know what he was going to say. And he went, ‘Would you be offended if I asked Zendaya to play Athena?’ I was like, ‘Why would I be offended?’”.

Holland said he immediately supported the idea and later passed on the message to Zendaya.

“I just said, ‘Oh, mate, I would be honoured. That’s amazing. I’m sure she would love to.’ And then I asked him, I said, ‘Do you want me to tell her?’ And he said, yeah. I went home, and she asked me about the meeting, and I just said to her, ‘You should read the script again.’ And she was like, ‘Well, I read it.’ I said, ‘No, no, no. Just trust me. Like, you should read it again.’ And she was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘Just read it again, but read Athena, like, really closely.’ And the little corners of her mouth went up. It was amazing.”

Holland plays Telemachus in The Odyssey, which is scheduled to release in theatres on July 17.

Holland and Zendaya also share screen space in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, slated to arrive in theatres on July 30, two weeks after the release of The Odyssey.