For millions of Marvel fans, Jacob Batalon will always be remembered as Peter Parker's loyal best friend, Ned Leeds. But long before he became one of the MCU's most beloved supporting characters, the actor was navigating his very first experience on a major Hollywood film set.

Like many young actors stepping into blockbuster filmmaking for the first time, Batalon found himself learning on the job. Fresh out of drama school, he suddenly had to adapt to the pace and demands of a Marvel production unlike anything he had experienced before.

Looking back on those early days, the actor admitted that he felt completely out of his depth while filming his first Spider-Man movie.

Reflecting on the making of Spider-Man: Homecoming during an appearance on The Zach Sang Show, Jacob Batalon looked back on the steep learning curve that came with landing his breakthrough role. While the film introduced audiences to his fan-favorite portrayal of Ned Leeds, the actor admitted that the experience behind the scenes was far more intimidating than it appeared on screen.

"I genuinely had no idea how to work on a movie set when I was 19. I was out of drama school and I was not hitting my marks all the time....And I was always like, improvising lines because I was really bad at memorizing my lines," Batalon said. His inexperience also affected how he approached his scenes, leading him to rely on improvisation more often than planned.

Rather than treating those early mistakes as setbacks, Batalon explained on The Zach Sang Show that the welcoming environment on set gave him the confidence to keep experimenting and grow into the role. Looking back, he suggested that support made all the difference during a period when he was still finding his footing as an actor.

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Behind every memorable performance, there is often a team willing to help a newcomer find their confidence. For Batalon, that encouragement came from some of the people who would go on to become his closest collaborators throughout the Spider-Man trilogy.

Jacob Batalon credited director Jon Watts for embracing his inexperience while shooting Spider-Man: Homecoming instead of trying to change it, explaining that the filmmaker remained open to his improvisational approach and patiently helped him understand how to work within a major studio production. The actor said Watts was always willing to help him learn, allowing him to develop naturally instead of expecting perfection from day one.

"Yeah, I—it was very freeing in that I felt comfortable enough, they made me feel comfortable enough to want to work that way...And Tom and Zendaya and everyone, obviously, was very much supportive of me. And just kind of our growth and the journey that we all took was very, uh... unbelievable,"Batalon said on The Zach Sang Show.

Nearly a decade later, that shared journey has become one of the MCU's defining success stories. What began as a group of young actors finding their way through Spider-Man: Homecoming eventually evolved into one of Marvel Studios' most beloved ensembles, making Batalon's candid reflection an honest reminder of just how far they have all come together.

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What's your favorite Jacob Batalon moment as Ned Leeds? Let us know in the comments!