'Spider-Man' star Tom Holland's real-life superpower is charm

A ballroom in a Bali hotel is jammed with people pushed up against each other, fever-pitch screaming. Down the middle of the crowd is a tidy L-shaped clearance with the crowd hanging over the edges, phones in hand, gesticulating, yelling "Tom, Tom, TOM!"

In the centre is the focus of the euphoria: Tom Holland, a normal-looking bloke, average height, current holder of the Spider-Man title. With his acting ability and winning personality, he's the right guy at the right time to star in Spider-Man: Far from Home (out locally next month).

This is his second Spidey film, and the fifth time of donning the Spider-Man suit, having also appeared as the character in three Marvel universe films, the most recent being Avengers: Endgame.

He puts in the effort. Rather than walking straight to the stage and maybe tapping a couple of outstretched hands in a high-five as he breezes past (he's in Bali promoting Far from Home), he methodically works each side of the divide, grabbing a phone, turning to take a selfie, touching a hand, then on to the next one. I'm there for 20 minutes and the screaming doesn't abate, and he doesn't abandon the task. Each person gets a little piece of him; he is still at it when I leave.

When we talk in a quieter space, he's dressed in striped trousers the colour of a ripe plum, a '50s film star-inspired knit of the same hue, white sneakers with a subtle racing stripe and a mega Cartier watch - his one admitted financial indulgence - worn low on the wrist. He oozes casual confidence and style.

"We're coming off the back of Endgame and everyone was so impressed by what the Russo brothers did that we don't want to disappoint fans in any way. The stakes for us as filmmakers were much higher," he says.

For the film, he did "90% of the stunts, from pole-vaulting up a 30ft [9m] bridge, and running across poles and flipping off buildings".

"I don't want to compare myself to Tom Cruise, but we really kind of pushed the stunts to the limit in this film. There's an entire action sequence in the film in Venice where I don't have a mask on, so it was on me and it was really crazy. I got a few knocks and bruises, but it looks great."

The film also pushes Holland's character, Peter Parker, emotionally. "He is dealing with a loss, something that we've seen quite a lot in the Spider-Man movies. In Tobey [Maguire]'s movie he loses his uncle Ben, in Andrew [Garfield]'s movie he loses uncle Ben. In our movie, it's not uncle Ben, it's Tony Stark."

Stepping into the role of Spidey's new mentor is Jake Gyllenhaal, who clicked with Holland to such an extent that scenes were rewritten to accommodate their chemistry. "The producers and the director were like, 'Every time they improvise, they burst out laughing, it's infectious, so let's just make them best friends'," says Holland. "So throughout the course of the film, we become really close and it's a really, really fun dynamic."

Indeed, the film has all the ingredients of a super hit, which places the newly 23-year-old Brit in a tricky place.

At the press conference he is quizzed about the resignation of Theresa May - he won't go into politics but he hopes that "America will get a woman leader at some stage". He slips it in so subtly that one almost misses the knuckle-rap that the most powerful country in the Western world still hasn't had a female president.

It's fascinating to watch the genuine charm as he realises the press are going to go places totally unrelated to the role of Spider-Man.

Asked about dating, he talks about playing golf. He has a lot of power but not enough to get the zip he requested added to the Spider-Man suit - which prompted his mum to call the producers while he was filming the first Spider-Man and give them what-for because her son had spent 11 hours in the suit without being able to go to the loo. He'd mentioned it to her in passing in a phone call the previous night, and was shocked when the producers came and spoke to him on the topic the next day.

Her mum skills are clearly the reason he is so grounded. She also put the kibosh in his wish to purchase a Porsche. "I'm a huge fan of watches and cars. I just had my grandparents and mum over at my house, and I said to my mum, 'The Avengers have been very successful so I thought maybe I'll treat myself with something. I think I'm going to buy myself a sports car, like a Porsche or something.' And she freaked out and said 'Absolutely not.' And then three days later, my grandad called me and said, 'Tom, I've been thinking about you buying a sports car, and I think it's a great idea.' So I think my grandad and I, when I go home, will go on a bit of a shopping trip. But we will have to wait and see."

He is congenial and confident despite his youth - he hosted most of the cast nightly during the shoot, to watch a British reality show called Love Island.

He hopes to move behind the camera as a director in the coming years and after our interview he was planning on hanging out in Bali for a little scuba - and sky-diving - but only "after the studio leaves" because there might be insurance issues involved for the lead of a very powerful franchise, even if he can't get a zip in his suit and his mum won't let him buy a Porsche.

• You can watch Margaret's interview with Tom on her YouTube channel. Find her on Instagram: @margaret-gardiner.