Marvel has this intriguing way of casting actors, mostly keeping them in the dark months after auditions. Understandably, casting for the iconic Spider-Man was never easy, it required a lot of decision-making and extensive audition and screen test but Tom Holland’s hope was hanging on a thread.
It was definitely a big deal for the actor which in a way would change the course of his career. However, the actor has shattered his hope and regained it multiple times after his first audition for the MCU role.
Tom Holland Said Spider-Man Audition Process Was ‘Horrible’
Speaking with Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya on Variety’s Actors on Actors Tom Holland revealed that the audition “process was horrible.” Holland has already done six auditions and Marvel didn’t disclose anything for a long long time. “You’re waiting and waiting, and then, eventually, I got a screen Tom Holland and Daniel Kaluuya on ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Black Panther’ and the Magic of Marveltest in Atlanta,” the actor revealed.
“I flew out to Atlanta, and there was me and six other kids, and [Robert] Downey [Jr.] was there, so we all tested with Downey, which was crazy. It went so well. 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.”
Holland was almost convinced that he got the role at this point and called his mother but again, there was no official confirmation up until six weeks later. “Then they called us back, and we had to do a fight with Chris Evans,” Holland added. He and one other guy shot a scene which as he put it, “was so surreal.” Even after that, the actor didn’t receive any call from the studio.
Tom Holland’s Tech-Savvy Brother Didn’t Believe Holland as the New Spider-Man
Holland was pretty excited about the Spider-Man role. He didn’t lose hope. One day, the actor got his computer and typed ‘Marvel’ to find any updates from the studio while his dog sat beside him. “I’ve still got the article saved on my computer. It said, ‘We would like to introduce our new Spider-Man, Tom Holland,” the 27-year-old told Kaluuya.
“I broke my computer, because I flipped it up in the air. 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 was still worried about something, perhaps, he could not believe the fact that he was playing the iconic Sider-Man. “I shot Civil War, which was a week’s work, and from the moment of shooting Civil War to Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the actor said. “I was convinced they were going to fire me. I don’t know why,” he continued. Civil War was yet to come to the theaters and he didn’t hear anything from the studio and it definitely took a toll on the actor.
Source: Variety.
