Will Tom Holland Ever Star In A Horror Movie?
As the current incarnation of the Marvel "Spider-Man" character and the central focus of the internet law named "If You See Tom Holland's Performance of 'Umbrella' from 'Lip Sync Battle,' You Must Share It," 25-year-old Tom Holland has quickly become one of Hollywood's most in-demand performers, and a favorite of both fans and critics alike. The English performer got his start playing the titular "Billy Elliot" at London's Victoria Palace Theatre in 2008, before making his cinematic debut in the disaster film "The Impossible." He was awarded a London Film Critics Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year, which motivated him to pursue acting full-time. Just a few years later, Holland would debut his Peter Parker/Spider-Man character in "Captain America: Civil War," and the rest, as we say, is history.
Holland has been obviously consumed by his Spider-duties for the last six years, but there's so much more to Tom Holland than playing Peter Parker. In a 2021 interview for Variety, Holland sat down with Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out," "Black Panther," "Judas and the Black Messiah") to talk about their film careers and the types of roles they hope to play moving forward. While Holland still wants to perform in huge Blockbusters, he also wants to pursue more intimate stories on a smaller scale in addition to branching out to other genres. The one genre Holland wants to pursue but hasn't yet is one that Kaluuya knows very well — horror.
More than Peter Parker
While Holland has yet to star in a true-to-form horror film, he's performed in his fair share of intense cinematic environments. Obviously, being Thanos-snapped out of existence is pretty scary when you think about it, but Holland has been facing down terror from the very beginning. At only 14-years-old, his debut performance in "The Impossible" showed him facing down a tsunami, and thrown onto a harrowing quest to reunite his family while his mother is hospitalized with severe injuries. Much of Holland's non-Spidey career centers on dramas and historical adventures, but many teeter on the realm of horror.
2016's "Edge of Winter" tells the story of two siblings stranded at a winter cabin with their father who is slowly losing his grip on sanity. While classified more as a psychological thriller than anything, the film would make for a gripping double feature with the 2019 horror film "The Lodge." The Netflix film "The Devil All The Time" starring Holland and "The Batman" himself, Robert Pattinson, may be categorized as a gothic crime-drama, but anyone with even an inkling of religious trauma will likely see the film as a sprawling descent into horror.
Ironically, despite appearing in horror-adjacent films, Holland admits he's afraid of horror movies. "I'd like to do a horror film, but I'm so terrified of it," he told Kaluuya. "'Get Out' is one of the only horror films I've ever really seen, and I love that film, but I can't tell you how much sleep you stole from me."
Holland would thrive in horror
At this stage in his career, Holland is pretty universally loved, which would allow for a powerful turn if he were to play a villainous character. Everything about Holland seems kind and welcoming, so playing a character like Norman Bates in "Psycho," who hides their monstrous tendencies beneath an innocent demeanor, would be a perfect fit. He's already proven with "Cherry" and "The Devil All The Time" that he can handle intense material, so someone should really call up "Midsommar" director Ari Aster and tell him to put Tom Holland to work on whatever horror masterpiece he's got cooking next. Give us Tom Holland terrorized by ghosts! Give us Tom Holland having to watch his body transform into something unrecognizable like in "The Fly"! Honestly, give us any combination of Tom Holland and horror and we'll be satisfied.
Considering his reputation as a prankster and accidentally spoiling movies, a horror-comedy would be the best use of his skills. Give us Tom Holland trying to defeat monsters in something like "Werewolves Within" and let him try to tear down a horde of zombies like he's Ash in "Evil Dead 2." He's got the charisma and ability to captivate massive audiences with just a wink and a smile, so he could easily play a vampire like Jerry Dandridge in "Fright Night" or David in "The Lost Boys." Of course, if he doesn't want to play a villain, his survival skills in films like "Uncharted" and "The Impossible" have shown he'd make an exceptional Final Boy, using his wits to outmatch whatever horror comes his way. Could Tom Holland survive Jason Voorhees after being terrorized all over Camp Crystal Lake? We're not sure, but we'd love to see him try.