The 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' actor opens up about his anxiety of being cut as Spider-Man after making his debut as the web-crawler in the sequel to 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'.
- Jan 21, 2021
AceShowbiz - Tom Holland was unsure that he would continue to play Spider-Man even after making his debut as the web-crawler in "Captain America: Civil War". In an interview for Variety's Actors on Actors with Daniel Kaluuya, the Brit opens up about his anxiety of being fired by Marvel after filming the third Captain America movie.
"From the moment of shooting 'Civil War' to 'Spider-Man: Homecoming', I was convinced they were going to fire me," Holland admits. "I don't know why. 'Civil War' hadn't come out yet, and I just didn't hear anything from anyone. I can't really explain it. It was awful."
Thankfully, much to Holland surprise, he didn't get fired. "...but they didn't - obviously. It's been crazy, mate," the 24-year-old actor expresses his relief as he shares how he's been enjoying playing the friendly neighborhood superhero, "I've loved every minute of it."
During the interview, Holland also details the long process of audition to nab the role. "There's three stages of life changing," he says. "It's weird. The audition process was horrible. It was seven months of auditioning. I must've done six auditions, and they don't tell you anything."
But Holland seems to have a good memory of doing a screen test in Atlanta opposite Robert Downey Jr. a.k.a. Iron Man. "There was me and six other kids, and Downey was there, so we all tested with Downey, which was crazy," he recalls. "It's the best audition I've ever done, him and I were riffing off each other. My agents told me that Marvel likes you to learn the words exactly - you can't improvise. And then, on the first take, Downey just completely changed the scene. We started riffing with each other, and I mean, to sound like a bit of a d**k, I rang my mum afterward and was like, 'I think I've got it.' "
Holland returned for another screen test six weeks later, where he performed a fight scene with Captain America (Chris Evans). "They flew us back to Atlanta, me and one other guy, and we did this scene, which was so surreal," he shares. "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."
The "Cherry" star says he only found out that he's officially cast as Spider-Man through the news. "I got my computer, and my dog was sitting next to me," he says. "I type in 'Marvel.' I've still got the article saved on my computer. It said, 'We would like to introduce our new Spider-Man, Tom Holland.' "
Not being able to contain his excitement, Holland says he "broke my computer, because I flipped it up in the air." He continues, "It fell off my bed; my dog went nuts. I ran downstairs. I was telling my family, 'I got the part! I got the part!' And obviously, that was right about the time when Sony had got hacked, so my brother, Harry, who's quite tech savvy, was like, 'No. There's no way that's real. They would have called you. They've been hacked.' And then the studio called me and gave me the news. It was so bizarre how it happened."
Holland is currently filming the third Spider-Man movie, which has Jon Watts back at the helm. It is currently scheduled for release on December 17, 2021 in the U.S., though its subject to change as the coronavirus pandemic has postponed the production.
