Spider-Man: Homecoming actor Martin Starr reveals his role in the Marvel film and offers praise for co-star Tom Holland. Starr is an actor who knows all about playing a nerd. On Silicon Valley, Starr plays expert coder Gilfoyle, one of the uber-geeks behind the show's fictional start-up Pied Piper. In addition to being blindingly smart, Gilfoyle is blisteringly sarcastic and deadpan. But like all the nerds on the show, Starr's character is also profoundly vulnerable and deep down feels like a loser in spite of all his brilliance.

This year, Starr is taking his expertise at embodying nerdiness to a much bigger venue, the mega-budget MCU movie Spider-Man: Homecoming where he will appear alongside the new Spider-Man Tom Holland as Peter Parker, a teen who is suffering through his own feelings of vulnerability, as well as Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark aka Iron Man.

Though Starr won't be playing a Silicon Valley genius in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he will be playing a character who is very smart and who figures into Peter Parker's life as a possible mentor. Starr spoke to The Wrap about his role in the film, saying, “I’m the academic decathlon coach and one of the teachers at the school so I have a bit of a thing in it."

Tony Stark will be mentoring Peter Parker in his journey to becoming Spider-Man, but Parker will need folks to help him navigate the dangerous world of academic decathlon as well, and Starr will be there to take on that task. Along the way, perhaps Starr can inspire Peter Parker with some Gilfoyle-like words-of-sardonic-wisdom.

Starr also talked about the movie in general, and without giving away any specifics, he offered an idea of how Spider-Man: Homecoming will approach the character of Peter Parker:

“It’s capitalizing on popularity and a story that’s very rich and dense, so there’s a lot left to tell. And this isn’t a familiar take on it — this is a unique kind of take of a younger Spider-Man trying to figure out life again. The story has a lot of action and fun in it, but it’s also a sweet, coming-of-age story of a kid.”

Starr also had good things to say about co-star Holland: “Tom is great. He’s captivating and he’s fun to act with.”

Starr's particular deadpan timing will be an interesting element in a movie that is set to feature a notably manic actor in Downey Jr., and a very energetic young actor in Holland. The Spider-Man: Homecoming cast also features Marisa Tomei as a decidedly younger Aunt MayMichael Keaton as the villain Vulture, Donald Glover in an as-yet-unrevealed role and Zendaya as a character who is not Mary Jane Watson.

Next: Spider-Man: Homecoming Interview With Amy Pascal

Source: The Wrap

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