Tom Holland Learned He Snagged The Part of Spider-Man On Instagram
On today's episode of "celebrities, they're just like us!" Tom Holland, a.k.a. the non-Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, says instead of learning he snagged the iconic role of Peter Parker through an agent's phone call or via a sudden onset of spidey senses, the actor discovered he'd be joining the MCU just like the rest of us -- by reading about it on Instagram. Last week, Holland sat down with Black Panther star and mastermind behind Barney's gritty live-action revival, Daniel Kaluuya, where amid discussions of Marvel and their respective franchises for Variety, the 24-year-old opened up about the "horrible" audition process he endured before embodying the comic book hero.
"It was seven months of auditioning. I must've done six auditions, and they don't tell you anything," he explained of the laborious tryouts, which included screen tests with Iron Man's Robert Downey Junior and Captain America's Chris Evans. Although Holland explained he was proud of his work during the auditions, telling Kaluuya that even if he wasn't cast, he'd still feel like he had "at least achieved something" for advancing to the final rounds of the casting process, he assumed he lost out on the part by virtue of the fact that well, "no one" had called him with an update.
"I went out to play golf with my dad. I lost and I was upset, and I remember going on my phone and checking Instagram, and Marvel had posted a picture of Spider-Man, of the cartoon, and they said 'go to our website to find out who the next Spider-Man is'" the actor explained. Even with minimal expectations, Holland still visited the website to see who'd portray the beloved superhero in the franchise's upcoming reboot. "I got my computer, and my dog was sitting next to me. I type in 'Marvel.' I've still got the article saved on my computer. It said, 'We would like to introduce our new Spider-Man, Tom Holland,' he recalled of learning he got the "life-changing" gig. "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!'"
Don't Miss
Amid Holland's celebration, his brother expressed skepticism about the validity of the studio's announcement. "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.'" Soon after, the studio finally reached out to inform Holland that hack aside, he had gotten the part. Marvel's casting team -- they're also just like us, and by also just like us, I mean they're seemingly pretty darn disorganized!
Anyways folks, if there's anything we can learn from Holland's tale of Instagram woe, let it be this: Doom scrolling can actually be productive -- that and if you're a major movie studio, maybe, oh, I don't know, try telling your actors you've hired them before posting about it on Instagram -- you'll save a few laptops that way.
For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.
Top Image: Shutterstock
