Tom Holland Reveals How Playing Spider-Man Changed His Life
Very few actors get the chance to immortalize an iconic superhero on the silver screen. Even less get the opportunity at 19 years old. That's how old British actor Tom Holland was when he was cast as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. In a recent interview with Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya for Variety, the now 24-year-old Holland broke down the process behind auditioning for the role of Spider-Man, revealing how the experience changed his life.
“Yeah, there’s three stages of life changing. It’s weird. The audition process was horrible... You’re waiting and waiting, and then, eventually, I got a screen test in Atlanta,” Holland explained. “I flew out to Atlanta, and there was me and six other kids, and [Robert] Downey [Jr.] was there, so we all tested with Downey, which was crazy.” Despite his agents’ advice to stick to the script, Downey Jr. and Holland were riffing off each other from the start.
“Then they called us back, and we had to do a fight with Chris Evans,” he shared. “By that point, it had been an amazing enough of an experience that if I hadn’t got the part, I would’ve felt like I’d at least achieved something to get to that point.” Weeks went by, and Holland felt certain Marvel had gone in another direction.
Then one morning, he did a google search for the word Marvel, and found the news of his own casting on the internet. “I broke my computer, because I flipped it up in the air. It fell off my bed; my dog went nuts,” he said. “I ran downstairs. I was telling my family, ‘I got the part! I got the part!’”
Since then, Holland has portrayed Peter Parker in films such as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Endgame. But the role still keeps him on his toes. “Every time I walked in, I’m like, ‘Oh God, I don’t know my lines. I’m going to ruin my audition.’” he recalled. “And then I remind myself that I’ve already got the job.”
Gallery — Every Spider-Man Movie Poster Ranked From Worst to Best: