Page 34 - Provoke Magazine Vol3

Tom Holland
Breathing New Life into Spiderman
In May of 2016, Tom Holland burst onto the Hollywood scene as Spiderman in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. With his charming performance as a likable and athletic teenager a little out of his depth, he became an almost overnight sensation. Now, just two years after the release of Civil War, Holland is estimated to be worth almost $4 million. He’s regularly seen with huge stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Zendaya, both of which he co-starred with in Marvel movies. Critics say his fame is a product of rub- bing elbows with other superstars and having the support of one of today’s most popular franchises behind him, but the fact of the matter is that Holland is incredibly talented all on his own.
Born to a photographer and a comedian, Holland grew up in Kingsley upon Thames, London. He went to Donhead, a Roman Catholic school in South West London, where he explored his passion for dance. Despite being bullied for his interest in dance, Holland persevered and landed the role of Michael in Billy El- liot the Musical. Only months later, he was given the lead role in the musical and starred in Billy Elliot for the next few years. His background in dance and acrobatics later came in handy when he moved away from the theatre into acting.
Although most known for his appearances as Peter Parker in Marvel movies, prior to donning the red-and-blue suit he also played small roles in a variety of other movies. Before coming to America, Holland starred in How I Live Now (2013) alongside Saoirse Ronan and George MacKay, the former of which also went on to superstardom of her own. The movie depicts teenage love in the English countryside as the war turns the world to hell around them.
34 Provokeusmag.com
When Holland was only fourteen he appeared in The Impossible (2012), a drama film that follows a family fighting for survival af- ter a tsunami hits. Despite the difficulties of creating a large-scale water disaster in real life, director J. A. Bayona wanted to use as few special effects as possible. As a result, Holland spent five weeks filming physically demanding scenes in an enormous water tank with Naomi Watts, one of the main characters of the movie. He later described the experience in the tank as “a scary environment” and commented, “you can imagine how tiring and brutal that was.” Still, an ability to do his own stunt work has served him well as Spiderman. Holland is seen on screen performing flips, jumps and choreographed fight scenes. Aside from his athletic prowess, what sets Holland apart from other incarnations of Spiderman is his relatability. He’s charming and personable, and before landing his blockbuster role he was in many ways a regular Marvel fan. Holland noted that he went to see the first Avengers movie with his best friend, and, of course, at the time it was inconceivable that his face would one day join Thor, Captain America and Iron Man on thousands of cheap clothing items and lunchboxes all across the globe.
The Avengers are an incredible group of superheroes, but they aren’t lovable, awkward teens juggling school, growing up and sav- ing the world at the same time. Iron Man is a genius far removed from the everyday life of most people, Black Widow was trained to be an assassin from childhood, and Thor isn’t even from Earth. That’s why everyone loves Spiderman. Few of us will ever know that amazing feeling of stepping into your handmade flying suit of armor equipped with missiles and an AI assistant, but we can all relate to working up the nerve to talk to a crush or falling asleep in class. After the action sequences, Peter Parker’s nervous inter- actions with Liz and his eagerness to please Iron Man were some of the best scenes in Spiderman: Homecoming (2017). Parker’s delight at meeting the Avengers in Civil War (“You have a metal arm? That’s awesome!”) would no doubt be mirrored by any high schooler thrust into his position.
Marvel also invested in having a superhero who understood their fanbase. Peter Parker is presented as an earnest all-American teen trying to his best to make the world a better place. Tom Holland himself fits that description, except for the American part. He learned the accent and the slang, but one thing missing was the culture. Holland, having grown up in England, was unfamiliar with the American school system and didn’t even know what Home- coming was until halfway through the filming process. While he made light of his situation— a foreigner playing a New Yorker— the directors of the film took the problem seriously and went so far as to enroll Holland undercover at the Bronx High School of Sci- ence. After shadowing a senior at the school for a few days, Marvel decided he’d gotten the hang of it and pulled the plug on the ruse. The experience was somewhat comical, but also ultimately useful to Holland.
Tom’s success is due to his hard work and talent, yes, but also a re- fusal to be anything but himself. Despite the pressure, the bullying and the difficulty of scrapping for small roles, he has made it. Out of thousands of self-taped auditions, Tom’s personality and easy, adaptive chemistry with his costars made him a quick standout. And all that time spent in “sissy” fields like dance? Without it, he would never have landed Spiderman.
Wess Nass