Spider-Man: No Way Home star Tom Holland said he would play the iconic Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic for Sony. During a London event for the new Spider-Man movie, Holland confirmed he spoke with producer Amy Pascal about it, and the first draft of a script is done. Holland, 25, does have experience singing and dancing, having launched his career on the London stage in Billy Elliot the Musical.
In a new GQ profile of the actor, Pascal mentioned that she wanted to cast Holland as Astaire. When Holland was asked about this on Sunday night, he confirmed that the script “came in a week ago,” reports Variety. However, he has not seen the script or even received it yet. He did speak with Pascal about it, though. “She FaceTimed me earlier. I was in the bath,” he told reporters. “And we had a lovely FaceTime, but I will be playing Fred Astaire.”
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There are no other details on this Astaire project. Holland does have some musical chops, as he starred in the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical in London from 2008 to 2010. In 2017, he danced to “Singin’ in the Rain” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella” in a viral Lip Sync Battle clip that impressed fans who only knew of him as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Holland first placed the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War as part of a deal between Disney’s Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to bring the web-slinger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also played the part in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgameย and Spider-Man: Far From Home. His third solo movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, opens on Dec. 17. Pascal told Fandango that Holland would star as Spidey in at least three more films.
Astaire is widely regarded as one of the greatest dancers in film history, performing for over 70 years. He was born in Omaha in 1899 and began performing on the stage with his older sister, Adele Astaire. After finding success on Broadway, he began acting in films in 1933. His most famous films are the 10 he made with Ginger Rodgers, including Top Hat, Swing Timeย and Shall We Dance. Some of his other films include The Band Wagon, Funny Face, Silk Stockings, Holiday Innย and Easter Parade. Late in his career, he began taking supporting roles in dramas, and the only competitive Oscar nomination he received was for The Towering Inferno in 1975. In 1950, he received an honorary Oscar for his work in musicals. Astaire died in 1987 at 88.
Astaire’s partnership with Rodgers will be chronicled in the upcoming flickย Fred & Ginger, starring Jamie Bell as Astaire and Margaret Qualley as Rodgers. The film will be produced for Amazon Studios and Automatik, Varietyย reported in December 2020. Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World) was hired to direct, from a script by Arash Amel (A Private War). Coincidentally, Bell and Holland have both played Billy Elliott, with Bell starring in the 2000 movie.ย
