Tom Holland is wrapping up back-to-back press tours — first for “The Odyssey” and now for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” — but the actor is already focused on his next project: portraying Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic.
Rehearsals underway for long-gestating project
Holland, who was cast in the Astaire role in a film first announced five years ago, says he has begun preparing in the studio. The actor revealed the rehearsals during national interviews while promoting his current films.
Promise to perform the dancing himself
“As soon as I finish with these tours, I’m diving back into the dance studio,” he told “Good Morning America’s” George Stephanopoulos. “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 to try and do Fred proud.”
Per Holland, that means “no doubles, to do all of the dancing [myself], to shoot those dances in one shot — how he would have done it.”
Seeking bigger challenges as his career evolves
On “Live With Kelly and Mark,” Holland said having “The Odyssey” and “Brand New Day” released within weeks of one another felt like closing the first act of his career and signaled a desire to pursue more mature roles.
“And what I’m looking for in this next chapter is like the ultimate challenge, and to find things that really scare me,” he explained. “I did my first dance rehearsal the other day for ‘Fred,’ and I was really excited afterwards, but I was equally terrified because I have so much work to do.”
Returning to his dance roots
Holland is no stranger to dance: he got his start in “Billy Elliott the Musical” on the West End, a role that required extensive dancing. He said one of his regrets is that “after I finished ‘Billy Elliot,’ I quit dancing.”
Taking on Astaire has given him the chance to step back into dance shoes — he even returned to the central London studio where he first rehearsed for “Billy Elliott.”
Said Holland: “I’m so excited for the challenge.”
