Zendaya Recounts the First Time She Met Her MCU Co-Star and Now Boyfriend Tom Holland: “He went for a handshake and I went for a hug.”

Every Spider-Man needs his MJ, and so that honor in the MCU fell to Zendaya, one of the most popular young actresses in Hollywood today. Zendaya is not your typical MJ, she has a different origin story and a different name and has been described as a reinvention of the original character.

As fate would have it, Tom Holland and Zendaya fell in love on the set, and the romance continued beyond the confines of the screen.

The relationship between the two stars was confirmed in July 2017 as they apparently started seeing each other while they were filming ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’ Zendaya recounted how she met Tom Holland in her interview with Variety:

He says when we first met it was super awkward because he went for a handshake and I went for a hug. But I don’t remember that. I thought it was cool. I was worried because he’s so much shorter than me, I was like, ‘Damn it! It’s going to be weird because I’m super tall.’ But then we ended up doing the audition sitting. So that was good.

Since the co-stars first met, Holland and Zendaya stressed in various interviews and social media posts that they were just really good friends — but although their relationship was supposedly platonic, their chemistry was undeniable.

We are friends. […]He’s a great dude. He’s literally one of my best friends. This past how many months we’ve had to do press tours together. There’s very few people that will understand what that’s like at 20 years old.

In 2019, their on-screen kiss in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ sparked fan excitement. By July 2021, their relationship was confirmed when they were seen kissing in a car. Since then, they have maintained a low-profile relationship, avoiding excessive public displays of affection but consistently supporting each other on social media and at events.

As of September 2024, the pair is still together and they are described as having a rock-solid relationship. We truly hope that it continues to be rock solid.

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