Holland’s dance background adds moves to ‘Spider-Man’
NEW YORK — Tom Holland learned a big lesson making “Spider- Man: Homecoming.”
Specifically, the 21- year- old Brit who plays Peter Parker/Spider- Man discovered, “You can’t really master hanging upside down. That’s not something I’ve been prepared for.
“But my dancing and gymnastics background was so helpful because we were able to do things as Peter Parker that they probably hadn’t been able to do in the past.
“That said, sometimes they would overestimate my skill set. Jon [ Watts, the director and co- writer] would be like, ‘ Can you just back flip off that wall and land on that beam?’
“I’m like, ‘ No, Jon, I can’t do that. I’m not that good, dude.’”
This “Spider- Man” delivers, for the first time, a teenage Spider- Man through the entire film — one who’s part of the Marvel Comics universe. This Peter’s a high schooler giddy with the amazing Spidey suit he was given by Robert Downey’s Tony Stark in last year’s “Captain America: Civil War.”
“What Jon and I [realized] is,” Holland said at a Whitby Hotel press conference, “if you gave a 15-year- old super powers, he would have the time of his life. And when I made this movie, I had the time of my life.”
Holland, the eldest of five brothers, is a disciplined showbiz veteran, doing dancing and gymnastics before he was 10. Then at 12 for two years he danced, sang and acted as the star of London’s hit West End musical “Billy Elliott.” How did he make that leap? “I sort of fell into it: It was never a decision. I was just lucky.”
He won international recognition in 2013’s “The Impossible” as a Thailand tsunami survivor and now Spidey is a game changer.
“Since Day One, this job has never ceased to amaze me. Nothing has sunk in but I’m very happy.
“I feel like I’ve been in the right place at the right time in every turn and that I’ve got to work with who I would consider to be the best of the best and learn.
“Every movie has been a very different experience and I’ve been able to play different characters without having to go too far.
“Now that I’m sort of finding myself a little bit, I’m looking to go a little bit further.” (“Spider- Man: Homecoming” opens Friday.)