Tom Holland (actor)

Early life and education

Holland was born in Kingston upon Thames, London, to Nicola Elizabeth (née Frost), a photographer, and Dominic Holland, a comedian and author. He has three brothers, twins Sam and Harry, three years younger, and Patrick, eight years younger. His paternal grandparents were born on the Isle of Man and Tipperary, Ireland.

Holland was educated at Donhead, a Roman Catholic preparatory school in Wimbledon in South West London, followed by Wimbledon College, a voluntary aided Jesuit Roman Catholic comprehensive school (also in Wimbledon), up until December 2012. Holland has said he was bullied in school for being a dancer. After Wimbledon College he attended The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology.

Theatre

Holland began dancing at a hip hop class at Nifty Feet Dance School in Wimbledon. His potential was spotted by choreographer Lynne Page (who was an associate to Peter Darling, choreographer of Billy Elliot and Billy Elliot the Musical) when he performed with his dance school as part of the 2006 Richmond Dance Festival.

After eight auditions and subsequent two years of training, on 28 June 2008, Holland made his West End debut in Billy Elliot the Musical as Michael, Billy's best friend. He gave his first performance in the title role on 8 September 2008, receiving positive notices.

In September 2008, Holland (together with co-star Tanner Pflueger) appeared on the news programme on channel FIVE and gave his first TV interview. The following year, he was featured on ITV1 show The Feel Good Factor. At the launch show on 31 January he and two other Billy Elliots, Tanner Pflueger and Layton Williams, performed a version of Angry Dance from Billy Elliot the Musical, after which Holland was interviewed by host Myleene Klass. He trained five British schoolboys for a dance routine he fronted for the final The Feel Good Factor show on 28 March 2009.

On 8 March 2010, to mark the fifth anniversary of Billy Elliot the Musical, four current Billy Elliots, including Holland, were invited to 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Holland was chosen to be a lead at the fifth-anniversary show on 31 March 2010. Holland had been appearing on a regular basis as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical, rotating with three other performers, until 29 May 2010, when he finished his running.

Television

In 2015, Holland appeared in four episodes of BBC Two's TV series Wolf Hall, as Gregory Cromwell, son of the protagonist Thomas Cromwell played by Mark Rylance.

Cinema

In 2011, Holland was cast in the British version of the animated film Arrietty, produced by Japan’s Studio Ghibli. He provided a voice for the principal character Sho.

Holland made his feature film debut in The Impossible, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Holland was praised so highly, that there were even rumors he was a contender for a Academy Award nomination.The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2012 and was a critical and commercial success, earning $180.3 million worldwide and Holland won universal praise from critics and several awards such as the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance and London Film Critics Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year.

Holland starred as Isaac in the drama film How I Live Now, which was released in the U.K. on 4 October 2013, co-starring Saoirse Ronan and co-starred as Thomas Nickerson in the film In the Heart of the Sea (2015), directed by Ron Howard.

In 2016, he plays Bradley Baker in the film Edge of Winter, where he co-stars with Joel Kinnaman and Percy Hynes White. In 2017, Holland co-starred alongside Charlie Hunnam in the drama film The Lost City of Z, directed by James Gray, and released in April, to positive critical reception.

In 2017, he co-stars alongside Richard Armitage and Jon Bernthal in the film Pilgrimage. The film was released on April 23, 2017 in the Tribeca Film Festival in its "Viewpoint" sections.

Spider-Man

On 23 June 2015, it was announced that Holland was cast as a teenage Peter Parker / Spider-Man, and his "life was flipped upside down", as he later tweeted. As part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he first appeared as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (2016). The film was a massive critical and commercial success, grossing over $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2016, with Holland receiving critical praise.

In July 2017, Spider-Man: Homecoming was released, in which Holland reprised his role from Captain America: Civil War. Earning $117,027,503 in box office receipts in its first weekend, Homecoming received positive reviews and Holland considerable praise, with his appearance being called "a star performance given by a born actor." Holland is scheduled to reprise his role of Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled sequel, each scheduled to be released on 4 May 2018, and 3 May 2019, respectively, as well as the sequel to Homecoming, which has a release date of 5 July 2019. He has a six-picture deal with Marvel Studios not including his Captain America: Civil War appearance.

Holland was originally cast in the Jumanji remake but had to give up the role to focus on Spider-Man. Nick Jonas replaced him in that film.

Upcoming works

Holland was cast to play Samuel Insull in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's The Current War, which will be released on 24 November 2017. Holland was cast in the film adaptation of Patrick Ness's bestselling YA series Chaos Walking as Todd Hewitt, alongside with Star Wars star Daisy Ridley, which will be directed by Doug Liman. In May 2017, it was announced that he had been cast as a young Nathan Drake in the film adaptation of Naughty Dog's Uncharted video game series. He is also now cast as the lead role in the film adaptation of Beneath the Scarlet Sky with Pascal Pictures.

Holland says that his long-term career plans are to "do some more franchises," play "some meatier indie roles and eventually . . . transition to the other side of the camera and branch into directing."

Personal life

Holland resides in the London neighbourhood of Kingston upon Thames, near the house of his parents and younger brothers. He has a dog named Tessa. When he was seven years old, Holland was diagnosed with dyslexia. Holland is a supporter of English football club Arsenal and also practises gymnastics.

Along with his three siblings Holland sponsors The Brothers Trust, a UK Registered Charity that raises money for various charitable causes.

Holland publicly credits his father, comedian and writer Dominic Holland, for keeping his massive wave of Spider-Man fame from going to his head.