If you want a lad who can pull off massive, high-flying stunts and then break your heart in a heavy drama without a single ounce of big-headed celebrity fluff, Tom Holland is your man. The Kingston-born bloke has spent the last decade shifting from a theater kid into one of the biggest names on the planet, all while staying the sort of down-to-earth fella you could have a laugh with over a pint.
Most folks know him best for swinging around as Spider-Man in the Marvel movies, bringing a proper, energetic teenage vibe to Peter Parker that completely reinvented the character. But if you think he’s just a comic-book face, you’ve missed some of his grittiest shifts. He completely transformed himself to play a desperate, addicted army vet in Cherry, and was brilliant as a troubled young lad in the dark Southern gothic thriller The Devil All the Time, proving he’s got serious acting chops when things get bleak.
Lately, he’s been absolutely flying and picking some massive scripts. He’s about to have the biggest month of his life, starring as Telemachus in Christopher Nolan’s massive historical epic The Odyssey alongside Matt Damon, before suiting right back up for his fourth solo Marvel outing, Spider-Man: Brand New Day. On top of that, he’s spent time on the West End stage playing Romeo and has been putting the work in to prepare for a massive upcoming biopic where he’ll be playing the legendary dancer Fred Astaire.
He’s a proper, hard-working talent who doesn’t care about looking like a glamorous, unapproachable star. He turns up, does a top job, and brings a massive amount of heart to everything he touches. If his name is on the box, you know you’re in for a quality watch.
• The Secret Ballet School Scrap: Long before he was trading punches with alien warlords on green screens, Tom was a massively dedicated dancer. He landed the lead role in Billy Elliot the Musical in London when he was just a kid, but his love for ballet made him a target for a lot of grief at his local school. He used to get heavily picked on by the other lads for doing dance classes, but he just kept his head down, put the shifts in, and always credits that intense physical training as the exact reason he can do all his own Spider-Man flips today.
• The 2,500 Audition Screen Test: Getting cast as Spider-Man wasn’t a walk in the park at all. Marvel auditioned over 2,500 lads for the role, and Tom had to go through months of grueling screen tests. For his final audition with Robert Downey Jr., the script called for Spider-Man to fly into the scene, so Tom asked the directors if he should do a backflip. Producers panicked thinking he’d break his neck, but Tom just ignored them, executed a flawless flip right in front of Iron Man, and bagged the job on the spot.
• The Unintentional Live Stream Blunder: Just like his mate Mark Ruffalo, Tom is absolutely terrible at keeping secrets and has a reputation for being Marvel’s biggest liability. When he received the highly anticipated, top-secret script for Avengers: Infinity War in the post, he was so excited that he hopped straight onto Instagram to show his fans the package, accidentally broadcasting the confidential details and a massive spoiler before anyone at Marvel could stop him.
Tom Holland is just a class act who brings a proper, infectious energy to the screen. In an industry stuffed with overly serious, safe actors who look like they’ve been built in a factory, he brings a genuine, vulnerable honesty that you just can’t fake. Whether he’s navigating massive IMAX blockbusters, getting down in the mud for dark independent dramas, or showing off his physical skills on stage, he does it with zero pretentiousness. He’s a massive credit to modern films, and he’s always a guaranteed safe bet.
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