Spider-Man: No Way Home, the most recent adventure of everyone’s favorite web-slinging wonderkid, is jam-packed with surprises. The main friendship between Tom Holland’s character Peter, Jacob Batalon’s character Ned, and Zendaya’s character MJ, though, is what gives the movie its actual heart amid all the comic book appearances and exciting action sequences. Together, these three high school students have survived SAT tests and fights with supervillains. In the third book of their trilogy, they must now deal with the pressures of fame as well as an inter-universal menace.

In some respects, it’s a tale that mirrors Holland, Batalon, and Zendaya’s actual experiences: All three were seasoned performers when they were chosen for 2017’s Homecoming, but in the years following, they’ve shot to popularity all over the world. As a result, when EW convened the trio for a Spider-Man installment of our Around the Table video series, they couldn’t help but think back on how they as well as their respective roles had changed.

“We’ve grown up together in real life, and our characters have grown up together,” Zendaya explained. “It’s really special to share all those moments with each other, and I think all of our characters have grown so much in their own ways. I think in this film, we get to see new sides to all of them. Some we might not like. Some we will like. And that was the fun thing: putting our characters under different kinds of stressors that we’ve never seen before.”

Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

| CREDIT: MATT KENNEDY/COLUMBIA PICTURES

Zendaya initially believed she was too tall to play Holland’s love interest, according to Holland, Batalon, and Zendaya in their lengthy but spoiler-free interview. They also recalled some of their favorite set moments. They also give a sneak preview of what to expect in No Way Home and reveal which well-known villains they were most excited about.

Watch the full Around the Table video above. Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters now.