I want to point something out in these two pictures. Okay, so i don’t know if I mentioned this before but I’m an actor right? And here’s something that I learned about special scenes such as these.
So, as an actor the hardest thing to do is act natural and realistically. To be so in touch with our emotions mentally and emotionally enough to bring them out. The more you bring them (your emotions) out the better reaction you get from your partner/co-star. An actor can’t make shaky breathing noises that Peter made and make it sound natural. We can’t tremble our lips without making it seem like we’re being over the top. This also applied to other moving body parts. Unless we feel gut wrenching pain (or any other emotion) in the pit of our stomach, we don’t show that specific emotion. You either feel it and show it. Or you don’t. That’s it.
Now, in the first parallel. (I honestly can’t look at the picture without crying tbh). Let’s dive in to Infinity War. When Peter started dying, his voice turned small to represent the child within him. He was confused but he knew what was happening. His desperate pleas and his apology.
Tom Holland is an amazing actor and I don’t doubt his skills whatsoever. I love this scene. And it made me cry. But (I’m assuming here idk his technique for this) he himself must have felt this pain to be able to show it from Peter’s point of view. Tom might have connected Peter’s to his own experiences. Often times that doesn’t work so once again depends on his technique.
Moving on to Endgame. Bringing back what I said before, an actor can’t make their lips tremble without making it look fake, as well as shaky breathing. Tom did BOTH here by saying “Mr. Stark, we won. We won, Mr. Stark. Sir, you did it. Tony… I’m sorry.” He was desperate for his mentor/ father figure to survive.
Tom is known to be a huge Marvel fan. Seeing Tony Stark, a living legend in the MCU, just die must have caused a trigger for him to have these natural reactions. Yes it’s fake but our minds can sometimes confuse reality and fantasy that by seeing/hearing/ or even smelling something that upsets you can trigger an emotion within you.
The second picture with our living legend and strongest avenger, Robert Downey Jr., We see Tony Stark reunite with our favorite spiderling after 5 years. Look at his face. That’s the face of a father seeing his son for the first time in a while and hearing him ramble about nonsense but HE’S THERE IN FRONT OF HIM.
RDJ is fantastic actor as well. One of the best in the industry. He knows a lot about emotions, especially his own. For him it might be easier to be able to tap into the emotion well and show it to the world. But then again, he’s a father himself. Not just in the movie but in real life as well. He’s connected to Tony Stark in many ways. He knows about the fear of losing your child and just being a parent. He understands Tony. So, once again maybe it’s easier for him to show emotions or maybe he actually has a technique to it.
Regardless, both are amazing actors and they delivered each of these moments beautifully. It broke my heart but that means they did their job right. The Russo brothers had nothing to do with their emotions or anything for this. They just wrote it.
All of this. The crying and the looks.
Those are Robert Downey Jr’s. And Tom Holland’s talent seeping through their faces.
That’s how talented they are.