Tom Holland (actor) - Tom Holland Actor

Thomas Stanley "Tom" Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor and dancer. Holland is known for playing Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London, and for starring in the 2012 film The Impossible.

Early life and education

Holland was born in Kingston upon Thames, London, to Nicola Elizabeth (née Frost), a photographer, and Dominic Holland, who is a comedian and author. He has three brothers, twins Sam and Harry, three years younger, the latter of whom appears in the 2013 film Diana, and Patrick, eight years younger. His paternal grandparents were born on the Isle of Man and 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. As of December 2012, he was attending The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology.

Career

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 front 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.

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 starred in The Impossible, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2012. It was released in Europe in October 2012 and in North America in December 2012. Holland was featured in Screen International's UK Stars of Tomorrow â€" 2012 and was among the newcomers chosen for the inaugural British Academy of Film and Television Arts Breakthrough Brits in 2013.

Holland played Isaac in How I Live Now, released in the U.K. on 4 October 2013, and co-starred as Tom Nickerson in the film In the Heart of the Sea (2015), directed by Ron Howard. Also in 2015, he appeared in BBC Two's TV series Wolf Hall, as Peer Gregory Cromwell. On 23 June 2015, it was announced that Holland had been cast as Spider-Man for Captain America: Civil War (released in 2016) and Spider-Man: Homecoming, set to be released on 7 July 2017.

In November 2015, he joined the ensemble cast of Shane Carruth's third film, The Modern Ocean alongside Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe, Chloë Grace Moretz, Asa Butterfield, Jeff Goldblum and Abraham Attah.

As of December 2016, Holland is currently in negotiations to co-star as Todd Hewitt in the film adaptation of Patrick Ness's bestselling YA series Chaos Walking along with Daisy Ridley.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage