Wildlife encounters and reflections on sports

Yeah, exactly. And it was really interesting because the guides who were there with us,

they said to us that when you go close to them kind of like and this is why I remembered it and why I'm telling you it's because when you were talking about the way the whale looked at you and it was kind of like you knew it wasn't going to eat you yeah yeah yeah and so they were saying that when you get close to these gorillas the only thing you can't do is you can't touch their kids and you can't touch them you can't drop something near their kids and then try get it back because they'll think you're trying to harm their kids but what they recommended was they said you had to make this sound when you see them and this sound means we come in peace and so the sound was

so that you have to make that sound I was like alright this is some Disneyland stuff I was like yeah I'm not believing this I was like whatever I was like alright I'm going to play around with it and so I'm walking around so we go to the gorilla and we get close to them and I made that sound because we were child they were like make that sound and then the gorilla did it back

and it was just wow and then there was this one moment where we were walking and we were literally surrounded by gorilla now i was getting it and that's when i was like a bit scared because they were like all around us and like literally if they ran at you like i'm done yeah you know nothing you can do nothing nothing you can do and so we're walking they're walking around us and this massive silverback came up so i'm uh my business manager was with me as well

and so he's there he's like my godfather in LA he really takes care of me very close to him and so this big gorilla that walks behind him and I'm looking at him going oh man he stopped and we're all looking at him because he's got this massive silverback behind him and we're all like how do we tell him to move and the guy's like just be still be really present you can't freak out and the gorilla just went and

Do you think that level of ease comes from

the helpless nature of being in the presence of an animal that could do to you whatever they want to. I think part of the reason why I felt so calm when the whale had come up was because there was nothing we could do should it go sideways. And I think being almost finding that kind of inner peace of like, I've made my mind. This is the choices I've made. I'm here now. There's nothing I can do.

it's almost like you should make peace with your choices i guess yeah i don't know no no no i think that's i think you've actually taken it somewhere really beautiful mate i i think for me as well it's humility yeah that's what and like when you when you meet someone new rarely are we humble sure we we often feel the pressure to be like well look at who i am or like you know what we're trying to create even if it's not our ego there's a certain sense of like

wanting to gain people's like and respect. Whereas you're like, no matter what I do, this whale or gorilla is not going to like or respect me. So I better just be humble about it and at peace, as you said. And it levels you. And it levels you and it allows that human being, that being also, of course, it's not, you know,

of course we're not record there's no we're not recommending that you just go into these places yeah yeah but the idea being that i do think there's something magical about nature where humility is kind of nature's way and it is that what you're saying that when you're at peace with your choices and you're at peace with here we are here i am i can't do anything and guess what

it's okay right that's what i'm saying yeah yeah it's somewhat sort of like i've made a decision if the decision is a mistake you've got to live with it yeah you made it yes i want to talk about uh sports because i was thinking so i play a lot of tennis play a lot of football i play a lot of pickleball now you play a lot of pickle because that's that's become a thing yeah but i'm massively more into paddle i don't think i love paddle i love paddle i want that

Yeah.

but it's really hard tennis. I find unless I'm playing with someone who's much better than me, I don't play well. I need to be chasing someone. Paddle tennis is so social. It's easy to have great rallies. You still get the satisfaction of really smacking a ball. Because pickle is...

It's all about placement and trying to kind of one-up your opponent. You're playing at the kitchen. Yeah, exactly. Why is it called a kitchen? I have no idea. So I play pickle like paddle. Right. Because I'm like, no. It's nonsense. It's like, why? I do like pickle. But paddle tennis, mate. Paddle's amazing. Paddle's one of my favorite, favorite. I was in Dubai with a client for work for months, a couple of years back. I played it every day for three months.

It's great exercise. Yeah, it's the best workout, the most fun. Like, time just flew. It was amazing. But I was bringing it back to sports because I was saying, you know, you personally tried to recruit Mbappe for Tottenham. I did, yeah. And I just thought that was amazing because I was like, I've never seen this ever happen before where, you know, someone's using their clout in the right way. Listen, I saw him. I'm a mad Tottenham fan. And I just thought, now's my chance. And he said, no. No.

The deal didn't go through. No signing bonus for myself. That was a crazy trip, going to the Ballon d'Or. We were there for Spider-Man. Spider-Man was coming out. I'm not really sure how that was promo for Spider-Man, but it was part of our trip for some reason. But it was amazing meeting these players, and I admire them so much. It's incredible when you can notice other athletes and other greatness, and I see that at the top. We've talked a lot today about it, and you're really good at this. I feel like...

I feel like you're quite tuned into like admiring and observing greatness and like the 1% and trying to figure out what they're doing differently. And I think that's one of the things I've definitely seen at the 1% is that there's a humility in that they have the ability to appreciate other people's greatness and skills and values and purpose. Like they're not looking at it going, I'm the best of all time. There's a part of them. They may have to say that for the cameras or they may have to say that before they go on the pitch. But actually, if you talk to them,

and you ask them about someone else they'll be like yeah best best player i've ever seen like they're incredible yeah so who did you admire growing up in acting who do you admire today like who have been the people that and maybe on a mindset level or maybe on a or a performance level as well there are definitely performances of people that i look up to there are there are the types of careers of certain actors that i really admire there are also like the the types of lives that certain people lead that i really admire and i really aspire to sort of be like um

I tend to let all of my admiration go towards athletes. I'm just so blown away by what they can do under the pressure that they're under. Me as an actor, I realize that my job is a high-pressure job because it...

reaches millions of people. But that said, there are so many people that help me get to where I need to be. I get picked up, someone makes me breakfast, someone writes the words that I'm supposed to say, someone chooses my costume, someone does my hair and makeup, someone sets the camera up. Ultimately, I walk onto set and I do my bit. But I'm a small part in a massive machine. But when you look at someone like Djokovic or Federer or, you know, this new Algaraz

or the golfers or Lewis Lewis is slightly different because Formula 1 is so much about the team and the car and all that sort of stuff they have to do it themselves at a certain point there's only so much help they can get but then when they walk onto that court for the first time when they walk into the ring or into the octagon it's them by themselves they're under that amount of pressure

It's up to them whether they deliver or not. And I just have always been admiring of seeing some of the greats lose their win streak and come back even stronger. I've always really been an admirer of people that are able to do that. I think it's a folly when you see these win streaks of 50-0 and all that sort of stuff and you're like, well...

that to me isn't what a champion is a champion is someone who had it all lost it all and got it right back again Tyson Fury's story is a crazy one I'd love to see AJ come back and be on top again because I'd love to be alive to witness that legacy that he would leave behind you know I feel sorry for him what happened to him when he sort of

the audio the audio the audio

Actors for me because it's what I do. Yeah, it's like Yeah At the end of the day, it's just it's it's taking what you can from From what you aspire for the right like you you can take something from all these people, right? And then what I love about is some of these people, you know Some of these people you don't but I always say to people who are listening and watching that you can be mentored by people You've never met

you're right and I think that's a really important skill to gain because I think we live in a world right now where somewhat access to this government easier and we always think we need access to people directly in order to learn from them but you don't know everyone you've just mentioned even though you may know a couple of them closely and same with me like I was really fortunate you know growing up as a teenager I got introduced to like Martin Luther King's work and Malcolm X's work and

I was reading crazy stuff at that age but it had a massive impact on my mindset I never met all those people and obviously would never have got the opportunity to do that but I feel mentored by them without ever having sat in the same room as them because you study like how they made decisions and you study what they said and what they wrote what they stood for and how and the parts that you don't hear through history the parts that were actually more difficult the parts where they weren't the perfect hero and so all of that kind of stuff but

Okay. Okay. Okay.

That didn't happen. No, it didn't happen. I'm still holding on to that dream. But you want him to go somewhere else. Well, listen. Listen. Let me just clarify, right? I love Harry Kane. I love Heung-Min Son. Heung-Min Son is my favourite football player. He is a hero. I love Tottenham. I'm a big Tottenham fan. But I just... I know that those players could thrive and have...

the best careers ever somewhere else I just want to see I want to see Harry lifting a trophy and I want to see Son there by him and and I just don't think so you're rooting for the individual yeah I'll always be a Tottenham fan you know I love being a Spurs fan my brother Harry and I you know we've really bonded over it I just you know Harry Kane's one of the best strikers in the world and he would fit into almost any team and I'd love to see him on top and I interesting question

do you think he would have had a similar season to harland had he gone to sea oh that's uh i personally think

because I think Harland's amazing I think Harland with his age his strength and his mentality you know what's crazy about Harland is I saw this interview and you know obviously it hurts me to say it but City and all but when Harland did this interview he just scored like I can't remember which game it was he scored like five goals that game and he was like I should have had seven

and and the interview was like come on though take some credit like he scored five goals he was like yeah i'm i'm happy with that but he goes you know there were a couple of assists that should have gone in and i thought that mentality you know that's a winner's mindset that's a winner's mindset i was like he was he knew exactly which opportunities he missed and i was like so i think it's an age thing yeah it's a strength thing i feel like harland's kind of like i've always compared harland to like ivan drago like he was made in the lab right right right he was made

like he was manufactured yeah yeah this incredible talent and i think city's good with like he admits like he scores a lot of tappings and i think that's his game yeah but man there's no pictures on a scorecard you know i'm saying like he's been doing that way and city played that way i don't know if kane's a tapping guy like sure he's got his goals have generally been a bit more diverse as that's naturally

What do you think of Jude Bellingham to Madrid?

I think that's a great move. I love that. I love that. And what's interesting is that all of my friends in Spain are from Barcelona. I have one friend from Madrid. I've always been a big Barcelona supporter because I used to go to Barcelona all the time as a kid. I had a few weekends where I'd say to my mum and dad, I'm going to my friend's house and I would go to Barcelona. Did you?

How did you pull that off, mate? Just sneaky, bro. If I told my Indian parents that, I was like, they'd know the dial tone straight away. Mate, I got caught. My mum called me up and was like, where are you? I was trying to say, I was on my friend's house. She said, no, you're not, because I'm here. And I was in La Ramblas in Barcelona. But I just love players. I think Drew Bennion's amazing and...

you know I just love to see what he could do there the thing for me is I love legacy I love seeing what players could do I'm less about the teams it's what I love about tennis or golf you know it's not about the team it's about the player so I would just love to see what he could do there and you know I'm sure one day we'll see England raise a trophy and we've got such a great young team and

I admire them all. But yeah, I think it's a great move for him. He's only 19 or something like that. That's insane. Yeah, he's 19. I mean, that's wild. That's incredible. He's a year older than my brother Paddy. That's mental. Mate, you've been amazing today, honestly. This has been some of the most fun I've had in a long time. Yeah, me too. Thank you. I appreciate it. We ask everyone the final five. And so these are the fast five questions. Okay. Which means answers have to be one word to one sentence maximum. Okay. No more than that. Done.

okay uh and you don't have to write or spell them out so no no no that'd be a long yeah none of that all right so tom holland these are your final five uh question one what is the best advice you've ever received to turn your nerves into excitement i like that that we've never had that on the show i love that all right second question what is the worst advice you've ever received move to la get a marijuana license and buy a hot tub who told you that

Mark Wahlberg. That's brilliant. He told me that on a chat show, so I don't know if that was legit advice, but I didn't take his advice. Okay, good. Who would you have been if you took that advice? Who knows? All right, question number three. What's the first thing you do every morning and the last thing you do every night? Make my bed. It's the first thing I do. And the last thing I do before I go to bed, admittedly, is I check my emails, which I shouldn't do.

But that is what I do, yeah, it's bad. Yeah, we ask that just to make you aware of what you need to change. I do need to change that. Making my bed is a good start. I used to never do that. And now, like, my first thing I do is I make my bed. That's like my first challenge of the day. It's a good, it's an easy one to get done. Question four, what's something you're trying to learn at the moment? I'm currently taking golf lessons. We see a trend. It's not going very well. Where are you at at the moment?

The thing is with golf is that the golf swing is a very, very particular thing. So in order to get better, you do have to take quite a few steps backwards. I've taken maybe 25 steps backwards, but I will benefit from it eventually. You do it every day?

every day. Not necessarily every day, but I practice every day. I've always said that to my wife. I was like, I want to go away for a month and I want to get a trade out. I'm going to play golf every single day. That's the only way I, yeah, that's the only way. I had a really, so one of my clients took me to PXG in Arizona, which is like this beautiful place, Bob Parsons space. And I had a coach there for two days and I was like half decent after two days because the coach was so good. And when I got back to LA, I tried to get a coach and I couldn't find a good one. And then I had a coach that literally, he came highly recommended, but it didn't work out for me. He,

he didn't let me take like 0.7 of a swing before he gave me feedback and i was like i just need to hit a few like i need to kind of just and it was like every time i was about to hit the board i was like nope sure sure sure i was like i just need to kind of like get a feel for it and so the guy i go to is a guy called james heath okay and he does most of his teachings off feel so it's not about numbers it's not about

Results, it's more about how do you feel. He calls it the feels. So I'm working on twisting my hips more in my backswing, and he will say to me, how does that make you feel? Physically, where do you feel the stretch? Where do you feel the pain? Where do you feel the pinch? That's what I need you to feel. And coming from a dancer's background, that's a really great way for me to learn because everything in dancing is about feel. So if you need a great teacher in London, James Heath is fine.

Fifth and final question. If you could create one law that everyone else in the world had to follow, what would it be? I don't know. I don't know what one law would solve the most amount of problems. What would you say? Curious. I'd probably go to something you said earlier. If I'm giving a genuine answer, like a real answer.

is I really wish there was a life school. That would be it because I'm not saying that would solve all the problems in the world. No. But it would set people up. And when I say life school, I mean emotional mastery. I mean ego mastery. I mean the ability to be kind and empathetic and vulnerable and compassionate.

create safe spaces I think a life school that taught you how to be non-judgmental sure and non-critical of others without understanding them I think sure that's what I mean by life school so not just for like paying taxes and bills and stuff yeah but the life school of like well what if what if we didn't have to live in a world where we just said everything we wanted to and did everything we wanted to and got away with it you know I think life the life lesson for me should be basic

health and CPR and basic first aid training it should be like you said creating an environment at school where young people feel more comfortable talking about themselves going through you know things that might be happening at home or things that are happening at school like I think that that would be an amazing way for us

to be more expressive

absolutely yeah I do encourage and recommend everyone go watch The Crowded Room I personally love it with my wife honestly like I barely watch TV shows if I'm completely honest I like something that makes me think and reflect and you know and entertain me at the same time and I think it does a brilliant job of doing all three like it's gripping I'm like trying to figure out what's going on next at the same time I'm like it's amazing watching you being able to be this

and that's really impressive. So even on a performance level, I'm forgetting that you are Spider-Man. Nice. Right? And that's how I watch movies where I'm like, can I forget who this person is? Or are they playing a caricature of themselves, obviously? Sure, sure, sure. And with you, I'm like, I don't even think to think it's you. Right, right, right. Right now I'm talking to you and I've been watching the show and I'm like, oh, it's not even the same person. Sure. And that is really, really impressive on a performance standpoint. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you. If