Marisa Tomei Gushes Over Seeing Tom Holland and Zendaya ‘Fall in Love’

Marisa Tomei is a proud aunt on and off-screen.

The Spider-Man: No Way Home actress recalled having a front-row seat to the blossoming romance between her on-screen nephew Tom Holland and Zendaya while making the Marvel Cinematic Universe trilogy. And it just happened to be her favorite part of the experience.

“I think some of the favorite things were really just watching Tom and Zendaya grow up and watching them fall in love … and seeing their phenomenal talent,” Tomei responded when asked her favorite memory about working on the Spider-Man movies during a panel at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto on Sunday, August 25.

“Just being, like, blown away from the get-go,” the actress continued to gush over the young stars. “Some people are just meant for it, and they are meant for it.”

Tomei, 59, Holland, 28, and Zendaya, 27, costarred in the MCU’s three Spider-Man movies released between 2017 and 2021. They include Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Holland played the famous web-slinger and his alter ego, Peter Parker, while Tomei played Peter’s Aunt May. Zendaya played Peter’s love interest, Michelle “MJ” Jones.

“They carry enormous, enormous star power, enormous power, and they manage to be real people at the same time and just multitalented,” Tomei continued to praise the actors. “They can do everything. They sing, they dance, they act, they do stunts, they design fashion. I mean, what are they not doing? They’re incredible, incredible people.”

Holland and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016 but didn’t go public with their relationship until 2021.

In an interview with Elle published in August 2023, Zendaya spoke about the difficulties of keeping her relationship private. “Parts of my life, I accept, are going to be public. I can’t not be a person and live my life and love the person I love,” she said. “But also, I do have control over what I choose to share. It’s about protecting the peace and letting things be your own but also not being afraid to exist. You can’t hide. That’s not fun, either. I am navigating it more than ever now.”

In February, Zendaya gave her boyfriend a sweet shout-out when asked who among the Dune: Part Two had the best “rizz.”

“I don’t know. Rizz is short for charisma, right? Everybody’s kind of got their own,” Zendaya told BuzzFeed. “I think someone who has beautiful charisma, not on the Dune cast, but personally works for me, is Mr. Tom Holland.”