Hollywood might be an ocean of endless opportunities, but there’s always going to be bigger (and begrudgingly enough, sometimes better) fish in the sea. Then there are those times when even the finest of the lot end up losing work to someone relatively less proficient in the industry, and that just shows business for you, all lost scope, missed chances, and innumerable other such hurdles. But then again, failure is the stepping stone to success because look at Tom Holland, one day he was livid about losing out to Ansel Elgort, trying to get past the sharp sting of rejection, and now he’s busy climbing the ladder to the top of the food chain.
Tom Holland’s Bitter Experience of Losing Out to Ansel Elgort
Thanks to his stratospherically victorious Spider-Man outings and an overall gleaming Marvel career, Tom Holland is lauded as one of the most popular actors of his generation. However, while the 27-year-old is relishing all the fame and adulation that surrounds him today and is in the position to reject offers with all the million-dollar deals lining up his doorstep, there was a time when the roles were reversed and Holland was the one being dismissed instead.
Before he became the fan-favorite web-slinger, The Crowded Room star was eyeing a leading role in Sacha Gervasi’s November Criminals. Despite an impressive audition and high hopes, however, Holland ended up losing the part to Baby Driver‘s Ansel Elgort instead, and boy did that make him 50 shades of red.
“I was auditioning for it and I got really close, and I thought that that film for me was going to be, like, my steppingstone into a young-adult career. And I didn’t get the role, and it really beat me up. I remember being really angry about it.”
Enter Dominic Holland, the knight in shining armor who swooped in to save the day with his compassion and words of wisdom.
There’s Always A Break in the Clouds
After losing a much-coveted film to another actor, Holland was naturally feeling glum and acrimonious, especially since he believed the 2017 film would end up becoming a milestone in his career. It is then that his father, who happens to be a famous comedian and broadcaster, sat him down to make him understand perhaps one of the most valuable life lessons, about how success and failure went hand-in-hand –
“My dad sat me down, and we spoke about dealing with rejection. He’s had to deal with rejection his entire life in his career, and he was really kind and said, ‘Son, that’s part of success. If you won every single time, winning would become losing.’ It’s like, if I can shoot 4-under in golf every single day, that would become really boring. You need to lose so that the win feels like a win.”
And it looks like whatever happens, does indeed happen for the best because November Criminals, contrary to what Holland must’ve then dreamt of, ended up becoming prey to critical dismay after getting an approval rating of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yikes, he sure dodged a bullet there.
November Criminals can be rented/purchased on Apple Tv+.
Source: Backstage
