As the star of one of the most lucrative franchises on the planet, people all over the globe are familiar with Tom Holland and his work.
Best known for his performance as Peter Parker in the MCU’s latest incarnation of the Spider-Man franchise, the British star has also appeared in the TV shows Wolf Hall and The Crowded Room, and lent his voice to projects like Dolittle and Pixar’s Onward.
Tom is also gearing up for what looks likely to be another breakthrough moment as the lead in a new biopic about Fred Astaire.
But what fans might be less familiar with are the characters that the Marvel actor came close to playing over the years.
Here are nine TV shows and films that Tom Holland almost appeared in…
Star Wars
Back in 2021, Tom revealed he was at one stage in the running for a major role in the rebooted Star Wars trilogy, but after “four or five” auditions, things took a disastrous turn during one callback.
“I remember doing this scene with this lady,” he recalled. “Bless her [...] she was [playing] a drone. So I was doing all of this, like, ‘We gotta get back to the ship!’ And she was going, ‘Bleep, bloop bloop, bleep bloop’.
“I just couldn’t stop laughing. I found it so funny. And I felt really bad, because she was trying really hard to be a convincing android or drone or whatever they’re called. Yeah, I obviously didn’t get the part. That wasn’t my best moment.”
The role in question was that of Finn, which ended up going to fellow Brit John Boyega.
1917
Sam Mendes’ World War II epic was a huge success a few years back, scooping a wave of Oscar nominations (including three wins) and the coveted titles of Best Film and Outstanding British Film at the Baftas.
It was previously reported by Screen Rant that Tom was being considered for the role of Lance Corporal Tom Blake in 1917, but ultimately had to turn down the part due to prior filming commitments.
At the time, Tom had reshoots on the sci-fi film Chaos Walking, which was released in 2021 to less-than-stellar reviews (let’s just say, it had a lot less Oscar buzz than 1917).
Meanwhile, Dean-Charles Chapman landed the character. Tom and Dean-Charles have something in common as they both got their start in the West End musical Billy Elliott.
Peaky Blinders
While he remained tight-lipped about exactly which role he went for, Tom revealed during an interview with LadBible in 2022 that he “auditioned for Peaky Blinders”, but “did not get the part”.
Creator Steven Knight later shed some light on the situation, claiming it “must have been quite a big role” that Tom tried out for.
“But if he wants to come back for the film, we’ll have him,” he added.
Jumanji
During a 2019 interview with GQ Style, Tom was upfront about his admiration for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, stating: ““The Rock is someone I’ve always looked up to. His whole thing is: Be the hardest-working person in the room. It’s something that I’ve really taken to heart.
“And when I heard him say that for the first time, I was like, ‘That is a really good saying’.”
While Tom is yet to share the screen with The Rock, he did come close when he reportedly landed a part in Jumanji sequel Welcome To The Jungle.
Unfortunately, due to Marvel filming commitments, he wasn’t able to take on the part, which went to his future Chaos Walking co-star Nick Jonas instead.
Sonic The Hedgehog
Multiple outlets picked up on a supposed “leaked” call sheet to voice Sonic The Hedgehog in a 2020 big-screen adaptation of the classic video game.
As you may recall, when the initial trailer dropped, the reaction was… not good, with producers making the decision to delay the film’s release so they could reimagine the character’s design.
Parks And Recreation’s Ben Schwartz ended up playing the much-loved hedgehog, and while initial reaction may have been one with alarm, the film ended up performing well enough at the box office, with a sequel following in 2022 and another currently in the works.
Bad Times At The El Royale
The 2018 thriller boasted an all-star cast including Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm and Chris Hemsworth, but it turns out there could have been even more big names in the film.
According to TV Tropes, Tom turned down an offer to appear (for the part that later went to Lewis Pullman), with Beyoncé and Russell Crowe also among the actors considered.
As one fan tweeted at the time: “Tom Holland passed on Bad Times At The El Royale, so they hired an actor that looked identical to him. I literally thought that it was him, and I’m sure many also will.”
November Criminals
For those not familiar with November Criminals, it’s a 2017 crime drama starring Ansel Elgort and Chloe Grace Moretz in the lead roles.
In 2021, Tom told Backstage that he’d come “really close” to landing the part that Ansel eventually played, and that losing out “really beat me up”.
“I remember being really angry about it,” he admitted. “My dad [comedian Dominic Holland] 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’.”
Wonka
With Timothée Chalamet currently gearing up for the release of his all-singing, all-dancing, all-Oompaing, all-Loompaing Willie Wonka origin story, Collider reported in 2021 that Tom was also on producers’ wishlists.
Interestingly, Wonka is directed by Paul King, who is also set to helm the long-awaited Fred Astaire biopic, which the Spider-Man star is due to star in.
This isn’t the first time Tom and Timothée have been in consideration for the same roles, though, as Timothée previously auditioned to take over the role of Spider-Man from Andrew Garfield.
Tangled
This is one that we’d advise taking with a pinch of salt, but Tom’s name has repeatedly cropped up online as a contender to play hero Flynn Rider if Disney were ever to make a live-action remake of the Rapunzel story Tangled.
However, Tom was quick to rule himself out.
“I really like that film,” Tom told Capital. “There’s a lot of these live-action versions of animated films that I loved as a kid and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if we need them’.”
More recently, Florence Pugh’s name has been mentioned as a possible Rapunzel, although Disney is yet to confirm the project is even happening, let alone potential cast members.