Tom Holland

Tom Holland, born in Kingston upon Thames, London, on 1 June 1996, became internationally known for playing Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before screen fame, he trained in dance at Nifty Feet Dance School in Wimbledon and was noticed by choreographer Lynne Page while performing with his school at the Richmond Dance Festival. That discovery led to an audition for the West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical. Holland joined the show in 2008 as Michael, Billy's friend, and later alternated in the title role at the Victoria Palace Theatre. He gave a televised performance from the production in 2010 for the fifth anniversary of the show. His first major film role was Lucas Bennett in J. A. Bayona's 2012 disaster drama The Impossible. Based on the experience of Maria Belon and her family during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the film follows a British family separated by the disaster in Thailand. Holland played the eldest son opposite Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor; his performance earned him awards including the National Board of Review's Breakthrough Performance award. Marvel announced Holland as its new Spider-Man in 2015. He first appeared as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, released in 2016, when Tony Stark recruits the Queens teenager during the conflict between the Avengers. Holland then led Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017. Directed by Jon Watts, the film pits Peter against Adrian Toomes, the Vulture, played by Michael Keaton, while Peter tries to prove himself to Stark. He returned in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, where Peter is among those erased by Thanos's snap and later returns for the final battle. In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter travels through Europe on a school trip after Tony Stark's death and confronts Quentin Beck, or Mysterio. Spider-Man: No Way Home brought back villains from earlier Spider-Man film series, including Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus, and Jamie Foxx's Electro. The story also united Holland with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of Peter Parker. Its ending leaves Holland's Peter without friends or family who remember him. Outside Marvel, Holland played the title role in the 2021 film Cherry, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, portraying an Army veteran whose opioid addiction leads to bank robberies. He starred as video-game treasure hunter Nathan Drake in 2022's Uncharted, adapted from Naughty Dog's game series, alongside Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan. In 2023, he played Danny Sullivan in The Crowded Room, a television drama inspired by Daniel Keyes's nonfiction book The Minds of Billy Milligan.