This is one of those stories that changes someone’s life! But don’t all lives change when they become superheroes? Yes, of course they do!
[toggler title=”TL:DR” ]Tom Holland hears about Spider-Man opening in February. Holland made self tapes with Backcountry co-star Joel Kinnaman to send to Marvel. Holland performs two screen tests with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. Holland shows off his athletic abilities in front of Captain America. Holland finds out online that he got the role of Spider-Man. Holland confirms that he got the role from his agents and Marvel.[/toggler]
[dropcap size=small]T[/dropcap]om Holland has a long acting career ahead of him, but has already secured one of the most popular roles in the superhero world. But not only did he go through a lengthy process to get the role, he didn’t find out he got the role like most people would when they are hired to play a role in a movie. Here’s how it happens.
On June 23rd, Marvel announced that they were going to cast Holland as the new Spider-Man, who would make his debut in Captain America: Civil War. Holland’s Spider-Man will get his own movie in 2017, directed by Jon Watts.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Watt said that the superhero standalone movie will be a “John Hughes version of Spider-Man” – which was confirmed by Holland.
“It’s not The Dark Knight,” he says. “One of the special things about what we’re going to try and create is that you’re going to see the biggest independent film ever. It’s not going to be an epic thing; it’s going to be a film surrounded by these incredible things, but that follows this boy and his life. Peter Parker is a favorite of many because everyone can relate to him, and we’re going to try to make everyone relate to our Peter Parker. And John Hughes is a perfect example of what we’re going to try and do.”
Holland was in northern Ontario when he had learned that Marvel was looking for the next Spider-Man/Peter Parker back in February. Holland was there to play his role in the independent movie Backcountry. Holland immediately called his agent, telling him “I know they’re trying to make Miles Morales, but let me try and send a self-tape.” The agent replied, “Actually, they’ve requested you to send a self-tape.”
“That alone was crazy,” recalls Holland. “I couldn’t quite believe that Marvel knew who I was.”
During his time in Ontario, Holland made a self-tape with co-star Joel Kinnaman, which was sent to Marvel casting director Sarah Finn. After seeing his self-tape, Finn gave Holland some notes to use for improvements on his self-tape to resend to Marvel.
“I went on to my next movie, Pilgrimage, and by that point I’d done two self-tapes, and they asked me to do another self-tape,” he says. “So I did a second set of sides and this time I had Jon Bernthal helping me out, which was great. I had to do those sides twice and my agents kept telling me, ‘This is the one!’ And then they’d ring me saying I have to do another one. I ended up doing five self-tapes in total.”
The first stage took awhile, but after five self-tapes, Holland advanced to the next stage of the casting process: in-person auditions.
“I went to Sarah Finn’s office and did a reading with her, and after that I got asked to screen-test,” says Holland. “I did two—one with RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., who was amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a cooler guy. And the second test was with Chris Evans, and it was pretty awesome and kind of surreal for me.”
In the second screen test with Chris Evans, it was then that Holland showed off his athletic talent.
“We had to do a movement test and then I said, ‘Can I just demonstrate some of the things that I can do?’ and they all were a little unsure of what I was talking about, and then I did a series of backflips and landed on the X, and was like, ‘Thank you!’ and then just left.”
He chuckles. “I used to be a gymnast when I was little.”
After the five self-tapes, casting audition and two screen tests, Holland had to play the waiting game with Marvel to see if he got the part. Every morning, he would wake up, anticipating a call from his agent about the job or even an update. There was nothing.
“Then, I was having this terrible day and I went home and was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw Marvel had posted a photo of Spider-Man with the message, ‘We have cast the new Spider-Man! Go to our website to see who it is.’”
Holland proceeded to the website and was in shock from what he read. “I learned about it online with everybody else, and I just went bananas.”
Holland’s brother Harry, who happens to be a tech wiz, told him that the site could’ve been hacked and delivered fake news. So Holland called his agents to confirm that the news was true. The agents assured that the news was true when they heard it from Marvel brass.
“Then I got a phone call from [Marvel honcho] Kevin Feige, who said, ‘I just want you to know that we’ve cast you as Spider-Man,’ and I thought, ‘I know! I already saw it online.’ But he was very nice and welcoming.”
For Holland to get into the web-slinging character shape, he used an AirTrack, which is basically a flat bouncy house. When asked if there was any initiation ceremony planned for his new role in the Marvel universe, Holland laughed and replied:
“It’s a secret!” exclaims Holland. “No, there was one process that I went through—which I can’t tell you about right now, because it would give some stuff away—but the thing about shooting Civil War is it made me so, so excited to start shooting Spider-Man. And I’ve got to wait so long until we start shooting.”
“But it’s soon. It’s close. And I’m ready.”
Tom Holland will make his debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War in spring 2016!
