Christopher Nolan recalls Tom Holland racing past him on Odyssey hike

Christopher Nolan has recalled Tom Holland "zipping past (him) like a gazelle" on their daily hike to their hilltop filming location while making The Odyssey.

In the film adaptation of Homer's ancient text, the Spider-Man actor plays Telemachus, a prince waiting for his father to return home to Ithaca many years after the Trojan War.

Holland shot most of his scenes on location at real castles in Italy and Greece, which were standing in for Ithaca's palace.

At the Italian location, the path was too narrow for vehicles, so most members of the cast and crew had to hike 45 minutes up to the hilltop castle every day before shooting began.

Despite being the director and one of the stars of the film, Nolan and Holland made the daily journey with them.

"So we had helicopters to bring equipment up or to bring members of the crew or cast who for whatever reason couldn't make the hike. But the bulk of people, because we needed 250 people up there, had to hike," Nolan explained to People, before sharing a memory of Holland during those hikes.

"I remember the first day feeling like I was making a pretty good pace, and then Tom Holland with his headphones on was zipping past me like a gazelle: 'See you up there!'"

The British actor noted that the hike was "a nice way to get the blood pumping" before the start of a shoot day. However, he admitted he struggled on the way back down after filming a fight scene at the castle.

"The day we did the fight on the edge of the cliff, though, we hiked up, we shot this fight scene all day, and then the walk down in the evening, my legs were jelly," he shared.

Holland expressed surprise that Nolan did the daily hike, and the Inception filmmaker explained that his wife and production partner Emma Thomas wouldn't let him fly in the helicopters.

"I tried, but Emma would not let me," he said with a laugh. "She's like, 'If you're going to ask people to walk, you better be walking.'"

Anne Hathaway, who plays Telemachus' mother Penelope, previously revealed that she took the helicopter because her costumes were so elaborate and heavy.

The Odyssey will be released in cinemas on Friday.