His career
2008: BILLY ELLIOT, THE MUSICAL: A hip-hop dancer, he was spotted by the producers of the musical Billy Elliot. His career is starting.
2012: THE IMPOSSIBLE: He plays the courageous son of Naomi Watts in this disaster film by Juan Antonio Bayona, which looks back on the tsunami that occurred in Thailand in December 2004.
2015: IN THE HEART OF THE OCEAN: In front of the camera of Ron Howard, he gives the reply to Chris Hemsworth in this new adaptation of Moby Dick.
2016: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR: He embodies Spider-Man in this big Disney/Marvel production. Something to boost his career.
2017: SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING: Sony chooses him to embody the new Spider-Man. Full box. A sequel will be released in 2019 (Spider-Man: Far From Home).
2017: THE LOST CITY OF Z: Under the leadership of the classy James Gray, he plays the son of an illustrious explorer played by Charlie Hunnam. Tom is in the big leagues.
2020: THE DEVIL, ALL THE TIME: Adaptation of the very dark novel by Donald Ray Pollock by Antonio Campos. In this sticky thriller, Tom does not suffer from comparison with Robert Pattinson.
2021: SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME: Third part of the adventures of the spider-man. The biggest blockbuster to date in the Spider-Man saga.
2022: UNCHARTED: An adventure film by Ruben Fleischer, in the tradition of Indiana Jones, which is a hit. On the poster, Mark Wahlberg is smaller than Tom Holland who takes all the light. The star is him.
“My dyslexia caused me big problems at school”
Everyone was expecting a monstrous flop! Laminated by American critics, Uncharted, adapted by Ruben Fleischer from a treasure hunt video game, has however put people in agreement. The film, carried by Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, presents the first operating figures which greatly exceed the expectations of observers and other professionals in the profession. What to remember from this surprise? Tom Holland is the new king of the post-Covid box office. And Uncharted only confirms all the good that Hollywood thought of this young Briton, since the titanic success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which became the third most profitable film in the American seventh art. Not bad for a slender little London commuter, on whom no one would have bet a shilling a few years ago… Flashback: here we are at 10 Downing Street, London, in March 2010. On Billy’s fifth birthday Elliot: The Musical, Prime Minister Gordon Brown invited the four successive interpreters of the young classical dancer popularized by Stephen Daldry’s film in 2000. Among them, a certain Tom Holland accompanied by his brothers Sam, Harry and Patrick (alias Paddy) , of his mother Nicola Elizabeth Frost, photog rapher, and of his father D ominic Holland, actor and author of radio series for the BBC, and therefore particularly proud to see his son break through so young in artistic expression. Especially since Tom suffers from a language disorder. “My dyslexia caused me big problems at school”, he recalls in the pages of Gala, in December 2021. Indeed, for Tom, each return in progress is a tan, because he struggles to find his place among the kids of his age, preferring the company of adults: “I had the impression of being a man in a child’s body”, he confided to Paris Match, in December 2021. Quirky but not depressed, Tom is an energetic little boy who loves antics, the gym, rugby (his idol being Jonny Wilkinson) and dancing. Does his body allow him to express himself better, and ignore his dyslexia? It is quite possible given his background. He then took hip-hop lessons at a school in Wimbledon. There, Lynne Page, the partner of Peter Darling, the choreographer of Billy Elliot: The Musical, spots him and offers him to take tests. In 2008, Tom joined the troupe and his performance was quickly noticed and praised. This is the time when his good face hits the bull’s eye thanks to TV shows where he promotes musical comedy. In 2010, however, he let go of Billy Elliot and launched himself on the big screen.
From Billy Elliot to Fred Astaire?
In Hollywood, we are working on a big project that should attract the Oscars like a magnet: a biopic on Fred Astaire played by Tom Holland. Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal says she immediately thought of the actor. Tap dancing, cinema, magic… It makes you want to!
We are in 2015, in Atlanta (Georgia) and Tom, 19, is playing big: six weeks before, he did some tests for Captain America: Civil War and as it went rather well, he was selected to shoot scenes with Robert Downey Jr. (aka Iron Man). Six weeks later, Disney/Marvel summons him for fight scenes with Chris Evans (Captain America). Some time later, the young actor learns on Instagram that he has been selected to camp Spider-Man. The production is so paranoid that it forgot to inform the first interested party! Problem: Stan Lee, the creator of the comics in 1962, is not convinced by Tom. “Another Englishman after
Tom & Zendaya The it couple of the moment
By dint of dating on the sets of the three Spider-Man, Tom and Zendaya have not only forged social ties. Logical finally, since Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst or Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone had, in their time, also extended love off-screen. Last January, the actor decided to introduce his sweetheart to his family. Between them, it’s serious!
Andrew Garfield?” complains Stan The Man (as he likes to call himself) convinced that Tobey Maguire was the only possible Spidey! Tom will quickly prove him wrong by bringing real added value compared to his illustrious predecessors. With optimal use of his body, he portrays a lively and slender spider-man. By modifying his posture, the placement of his arm, this trained dancer manages to transpose to the screen the nonchalance mixed with the bubbling energy of an impatient teenager. The result is stunning and works well with pre-teens, the core target of the Spider-Man franchise. Something to interest Bob Iger, the boss of Sony, holder of the rights to the adventures of Peter Parker (Marvel and Disney can only include him in a part of the Avengers). The businessman decides to call Tom: “One evening, my family and I went to a pub. We were having fun, I was down to three pints and I got a call from a hidden number. I felt it was Bob Iger except I was drunk. And there was my father who said to me: ‘Take this call, it will do!’ So I picked up”, he recounts in Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show in 2019. Tom’s freshness is so communicative that at 19, he plays the go-between between Disney, Marvel and Sony, and allows three giants a historic collaboration… We all know what happened next: the three Spider-Mans are going to be a hit and make Tom the new star of the moment with the advantages and disadvantages that go with it: “Celebrity is fun but also bullshit! My life will never be the same again. I do not deplore it financially, but I live it very badly when people do not understand that I remain a simple guy”, he analyzed in the pages of Public, in May 2021. This is how his relationship with his play partner Zendaya Coleman (aka Zendaya for short) is of great interest to the press, eager to photograph the most hype and so cute couple of the moment (see box). Not enough to disturb too much the phlegm of Tom Holland, who traces his path in Hollywood or elsewhere. The Briton has not finished weaving his web…
“Fame is fun, but also trouble!”
Charitable fraternity
With his brothers Sam, Harry and Paddy, Tom set up a charitable foundation called Brothers Trust (the confidence of the brothers). The goal: to raise funds and publicize charitable organizations that would struggle to exist. A family with a big heart!
A swinging star
A lover of rugby, football and dancing, Tom is above all a keen golfer. To the point of falling asleep thinking of his clubs, he admits bluntly. “Playing golf is what I do. I am addicted to golf and if I had not been addicted to golf, I would have had a very different career”, he explained to People Magazine, in December 2021. Fifty shades of green!
See also:
Renaud Leclercq