Tom Holland lost a lot of weight for Cherry and had to gain it all back. In addition, Holland’s co-star Ciara Bravo had to do the same. The Russo Brothers finally revealed the first footage from the highly anticipated movie earlier this week, teasing what fans can expect. Even before the first footage was released, whispers of an Academy Award nomination for Holland were spreading around the entertainment industry .
In a new interview, the Russo Brothers spoke about Cherry and their process that they went through to make the movie. The directing duo wanted to make sure that the tone shifts of the movie were evident, so they used different filters and filming techniques to make that apparent. However, the actors also had a massive physical part to play when getting the story across. Joe Russo says, “Holland really shredded himself for the part. He lost 30 pounds, he gained it back. We’re on an independent movie schedule here-he didn’t really have a lot of time to be doing these things.”
30 pounds is a lot of weight, especially for Tom Holland, who also portrays Peter Parker in the current Spider-Man franchise for Sony and Marvel Studios. The actor is currently filming Spider-Man 3 in Atlanta. Holland’s co-star, Ciara Bravo, also went through a physical transformation for Cherry, which Joe Russo detailed. You can read what Russo had to say about the physical element of the movie below.
“They shredded themselves physically and emotionally for this. I just want to bring up that, you know, Tom lost almost a quarter of his body weight. I know Ciara lost a lot of weight, and you know what it’s like when you do that for a while, and you’re living with that every day. You’re starving yourself and you’re having to go to work and deal with these emotionally fraught scenes. These two really shredded themselves. Kudos to you guys, because you laid yourself bare, you laid yourself raw for these performances, to get as much authenticity as possible out of it, It’s some of the most impressive performance work we’ve ever been a part of. And it came at a real physical cost to both of them.”
The Russo Brothers are incredibly proud of their young cast who were able to bring Nico Walker’s Cherry to the big screen. Walker’s story is the basis of the movie, which is loosely based on his real-life experience of being a veteran with severe PTSD who ends up with an extreme opioid addiction. Walker, like Cherry, found himself robbing banks to support his drug habit which ultimately landed him in jail.
Nico Walker actually negotiated the filming rights for Cherry with the Russo Brothers while he was still behind bars. Cherry, like nearly every movie that has been released since the pandemic hit, will be released in theaters and on streaming upon its release. It hits theaters on February 26th and will be available on AppleTV+ soon after on March 12th. CinemaBlend was one of the first outlets to report on Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo’s weight loss for Cherry.