SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Actress Marisa Tomei Initially Wanted To Be "Aged-Up" For Her Aunt May Role
During a new interview with Stephen Colbert, Marisa Tomei revealed that she originally "made a case" for her take on Aunt May in Spider-Man: Homecoming to be depicted as a much older woman.
Peter Parker's Aunt May is generally depicted as being an elderly woman, so when Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei (who is only 52... and looks even younger) was cast in the role for the rebooted Spider-Man: Homecoming, a lot fans were surprised, while others were a little pissed off.
As it turns out, Tomei was also a bit apprehensive about playing a version of the character that was such a radical departure from the source material, and actually campaigned to be "aged-up" for the role.
Here's what she revealed while being interviewed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:
“You can imagine my horror when I was cast and I started doing the research, but then I thought “well, I’m going to go with it” and I actually made a case to go, to age me up, but no they didn’t do it.”
Of course, had Marvel and Sony wanted an older take on May they'd simply have cast an older actress, so it's clear they'd rather explore a different dynamic between Peter and his beloved Aunt than fans are used to.
Tomei made her debut as May Parker in Captain America: Civil War, and will reprise the role for Spider-Man: Homecoming this July.