The Stunning Transformation Of Jacob Batalon From Spider-Man

Jacob Batalon made a major impression in Spider-Man: Homecoming before the movie even premiered, thanks to his character's hilarious in-trailer reaction to finding out BFF Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Once Homecoming was released, the Hawaiian actor's lovably nerdy and enthusiastic Ned was one of the standout elements in a movie already teeming with wonderful stuff. In the follow-up Far From Home, Ned took a more active role in the proceedings and solidified his status as a fan-favorite. Spider-Man: Homecoming was Batalon's first audition ever, although he didn't realize it at the time. As Inverse notes, the casting call simply called for a supporting character for a Marvel movie who could convincingly play a teenager. Batalon put himself on tape, and soon he was summoned to California for screen tests with Peter Parker himself, Tom Holland. Thankfully, the two clicked immediately and even roomed together for a while. Batalon knew he'd "made it" when, while doing a press tour in South Korea, a fan approached him with a box of the discontinued cereal Oreo O's, which remained available there even if they weren't elsewhere. Batalon recalled, "I was genuinely shocked. I hadn't seen that cereal since I was, like, 7, and they just go, 'Here, take my cereal.'" The Honolulu native is inspired by his most famous character. He told Indiewire, "Ned's really affected my life. He's so bubbly and so open that, in reality now, I'm so much more happier. And that's been a really good thing for me." Batalon told Inverse that Ned finding a love interest in Far From Home didn't surprise him as much as it did audiences because, "Ned is just undeterred. His best friend is Spider-Man, you know what I mean? He feels like he can take on the world." Batalon was wrapping up film school while simultaneously waiting to hear back on whether he got the part that would change his life forever. The actor was panicking about what his next step would be if he didn't get Ned, assuming he probably wasn't going to. He revealed that when the good news finally came, he felt more relieved than anything else. In going straight from film school to appearing in a massive blockbuster, Batalon didn't have much time to get used to his new reality. As he explained in an interview with Teen Vogue, "The most surprising thing was just how big of a scale and level Marvel and Hollywood movies are compared to doing an independent movie. Everyone works just as hard, but it's just crazy." And filming everywhere from London to Venice to Prague made his head spin, because, "I was not expecting to do these things at such a young age. [...] Just my experience from doing nothing in drama school to all of a sudden being in London, filming the scene on the Tower Bridge [was crazy]." Growing up, Batalon said he hadn't seen himself represented onscreen aside from maybe in Hawaii Five-0 and Jackie Chan movies. Batalon was a virtual unknown prior to jumping aboard the Spider-Man franchise, and it's safe to say he's turned his breakout role into a blossoming career. Aside from ensuring he's a screen fixture for the foreseeable future, regardless of what happens with Peter Parker and the gang, Batalon is turning heads with his impressive body transformation. The actor hasn't made his weight part of the discussion in interviews thus far, but to mark his 24th birthday, the actor took to Instagram to share his remarkable weight loss, captioning the photo, "Don't try to get at me..imma be vibin all day. [...] By the way, while I appreciate the concern, people can stop telling me to lose weight now." The actor previously told ComicBook how much he's missing working and being on set with everyone, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He admitted, "I feel like I've spent the entire year just like everyone else, not really working, per se. I would love to just work on something in general. [...] I really just want to work and be productive and just see my friends again." Although the Spider-Man star is looking forward to getting back to it, he's evidently been busy working hard at his health in the time he's had away. Watch the video to learn about The Stunning Transformation Of Jacob Batalon From Spider-Man! #JacobBatalon #SpiderMan