Hollywood leading man Tom Holland plans to play Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic about the renowned dancer.
Fresh off roles in “The Odyssey” as Telemachus and “Spider Man: Brand New Day” as, well, Peter Parker, Holland has signed onto a project announced five years ago that is now coming to fruition.
“I now feel like I’m starting this chapter where I can’t quite get away with being a teenager anymore,” the newly minted 30-year-old told “Good Morning America” earlier this week. “For me, what I love about my job is the challenges. You know, we have Fred Astaire next, which is what we’re planning on doing. And as soon as I finish with these tours, I’m diving back into the dance studio.”
Holland is prepping even amid worldwide promo tours for the two summer blockbusters. That prep involves becoming the dancer that Astaire was. For Holland, that means doing all the dancing himself. No stunt double. No second takes.
“I did my first few rehearsals recently, and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread because I’ve got so much work to do to try and do Fred proud,” Holland told “GMA.” “I have a desire to use no doubles to do all of the dancing to shoot those dances in one shot. How he would have done it.”
It’s part of his quest to take on “the ultimate challenge, and to find things that really scare me,” he said on “Live With Kelly and Mark.”
Dancing is what got Holland started in the entertainment business. He was just 12 when he played the title role in “Billy Elliott the Musical” in London’s West End, and that was all thanks in part to a Janet Jackson song he became obsessed with as a kid. Whenever he heard it, “I would bounce along to the song in the rhythm of the song,” Holland told “GMA.”
From there it was “Saturday street-dance class, you know, all throughout our childhood,” he added. “And that led to an audition. And that audition led to Billy Elliot. And that led to me getting an agent.”