Becoming Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe helped Tom Holland quickly become one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood. But for the 21-year-old boy born in the Kingston area, southwest of London, England, this success is only the result of a hard work process. Not only that, it also contains many special unforgettable memories.
Excitement is ignored
After submitting 5 videos of self acrobatics, it took Tom 5 months to complete 8 more auditions with 1500 other candidates. He was not judged as outstanding compared to the leading candidate at the time, Asa Butterfield. But the withdrawal of Asa and especially the duel performance with Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans changed all that.
“When I auditioned with Chris Evans, my face was like, ‘Can I do a few flips for everyone to see?’. The guys at Sony replied with a face: ‘Can you do it?’. Oh my gosh, I’ve sent them five acrobatic clips over the past five months without them knowing anything?”
His ballet skills and experience in gymnastics while coaching the musical Billy Elliot from 2006 to 2008 helped Tom quite a bit. Kevin Feige – Marvel’s chief executive officer also acknowledged that Tom’s ability to move quickly and flexibly makes Tom an advantage over other candidates: “He can do some Spider-man’s moves better than him. even stuntmen.”
Tom did a lot of the action scenes in the movie himself.
However, the decision was made only when Tom Holland had a live audition with Robert Downey. According to Kevin, when he met Downey Jr. For the first time, Tom is both nervous and excited at the same time – exactly like the description of the relationship between the fanboy Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the famous playboy Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Good interaction with Robert Downey Jr. That’s why Tom Holland was cast as Spider-Man.
Learn patience from…Sony/Marvel
During the final audition, when asked when the casting results would be available, Tom Holland received only the seemingly certain promise: “Tomorrow!” . However, Tom stayed at his relative’s house in Atlanta, USA for a week without any reply .
After that, he returned to England and lived in anticipation of the news …5 more weeks. “It was a very tiring waiting period, every day I check my phone for about 20 minutes / 1 time to see the results. But there is absolutely no news .”
Tom was made to wait 6 weeks by Marvel/Sony before receiving the good news.
On a beautiful day in mid-2015, a strange message was sent to Tom’s Instagram and invited him to log on to the website with the message: “Let’s find out who the new Spider-Man is” . Next to the image of Spider-Man with the familiar red costume is a new name: Tom Holland.
And the boy shouted, jumping off the sofa to announce the good news to his family . In response, his younger brother Harry Holland said coldly: “Don’t be fooled, if you passed, they would have called you. Sony just got hacked, remember?” (In late 2014, Sony faced the hack of all important internal emails.)
Tom Holland in his debut role at the age of 16 – The Impossible (2012). This is also his only film that caught his attention before Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Thankfully, Kevin Feige (Marvel’s director) appeared with a phone call that brought a “real dream” to the Spider-Man fanboy.
Peter Parker came out from the comic
Compared to the previous two Spider-Man generations, Tom Holland is considered the youngest actor ever to take on the role. But his youth, dynamism and relatively “young” face are extremely suitable for the context of Peter Parker, who is only 15 years old in Marvel’s plan. Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield had to “saw horns” from 26-year-old men to become a student who had just turned 20.
Tom Holland (21) is the youngest actor ever to play Spider-Man. In the movie, his character is only 15 years old.
Tom Holland is also the first “original” Englishman to play Spider-Man – one of America’s most famous superheroes. Andrew Garfield, the male lead of The Amazing Spider-Man before, has dual Anglo-American citizenship, he was born in the US and only returned to England when he was 5 years old.
When asked how it feels when an Englishman becomes an American hero again, Robert Downey Jr shakes his head and says: “At least I like this boy Tom Holland very much, in terms of character” . Even Amy Pascal admitted: “We were also trying to find someone who wasn’t British but you know… we wanted someone who looked like Peter Parker, and someone we could relate to. Moreover, it must be the person who makes the most effort . ”
And Tom Holland appeared, like a real-life Peter Parker. With the inherent irony of the British people in his blood, he even excitedly boasted: “Spider-Man is British again! Good news for the home team England!” .
Self-harm because of British irony
However, this sarcasm made Tom “enough” when he joked about wanting to experience what it was like to go to an American high school. And so Marvel seriously sent him to Bronx Science High School to study with geniuses for three days. In the middle of a real “bookworm” forest, Tom only knows how to bewildered with a lot of macro knowledge and is shy when revealing his true identity to a girl that no one will believe.
“I was just joking when I said I wanted to experience the feeling of being in school in America. But Marvel did it for real. So I had to register under a pseudonym and attend school for three days. I also have to speak with an American accent. The problem is, that school is full of geniuses. Everyone is curious what I do there. The teachers keep testing me for my scientific knowledge… but I’m not? I’m just an actor!”
Tom’s “fake” student card when being sent to school by Marvel. Bronx High School is home to 8 Nobel Prize winners.
In addition, Tom Holland also had an accident because of his British accent. Normally in the movie, Tom has to fake an American accent to transform into a high school student Peter Parker. He had to ask a dialect coach to help him pronounce it well. However, on the set that day, Tom completely forgot the American accent and read the lines in his British accent.
“That day, for some reason, I spoke in a London accent without realizing it. The people around didn’t even notice. Until I watched the tape again and, oh my god, it all fell apart. So that scene had to be edited and they had to cut my face off when I said ‘Hello’ when I walked into the sandwich shop.”
It’s so stressful that I have to… bring my mother along
When he auditioned for the role, Tom Holland was under a lot of stress. And after receiving this role, he was even more nervous. Those are the pressures of having to start making a movie.
On the first day of meeting with director Jon Watts to discuss the goal of the film and the character, Tom was so scared that he asked his mother to come along. “I worry too much about it. I was in the car with my mom and I thought to myself, ‘Why bring her along? What are you doing? You look like a kid!’ .
Tom and his mother and two siblings at the UK premiere of Spider-Man. Tom is the eldest in a family of four sons.
But fortunately, Jon Watts – a young director born in 1981 has the same feeling as Tom. He has only made a few videos and short films, never had a standout work and first shouldered a big blockbuster like Spider-Man: Homecoming . The two had a friendly and understanding exchange. “And my mother had a lovely time ,” recalls Tom.
After Spider-Man: Homecoming debuted, Tom Holland completely conquered viewers when transforming into two separate personalities in the same person – a shy Peter Parker and a brave Spider-Man. And from there, he officially became the “most original” Spider-Man in the eyes of millions of viewers around the world.
