Tom Holland is still Spider-Man, but he’s been confirmed to play a very different silver screen legend. Holland confirmed that he will play legendary actor Fred Astaire in a biopic for Sony, which had been rumoured ever since GQ mentioned it in their recent profile interview with Holland.
Holland said: “I am playing Fred Astaire. Yeah I am. The script came in a week ago. I haven’t read it yet. They haven’t given it to me. I know that Amy Pascal has the script. She Facetimed me earlier. I was in the bar and we had a lovely Facetime, but I will be playing Fred Astaire.”
Little else is currently known about the film, but it should be noted that this is a separate project from the previously-announced biopic Fred & Ginger which will see Jamie Bell playing Astaire.
Astaire is widely considered the greatest dancer in film history, with his screen career lasting over 50 years, which included 31 musicals.
He’s best known for his dancing partnership with Ginger Rogers, with the two teaming up in notable films such as Top Hat, Shall We Dance, and Swing Time. The American Film Institute once named him the fifth-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood.
Like Bell, Holland has a musical and dancing background. In fact, both actors have experience playing Billy Elliot. Bell in the film, and Holland in the West End musical version, where he played the lead from 2008 to 2010. However, it will still be a challenge for both to live up to Astaire’s famed grace, elegance, and precision.
Practically nothing else is known about the film right now, with no word on who has written the script and no director currently attached. So the project is in the very earliest stages of development, but Sony clearly has confidence in Holland to be a big star away from the MCU. This will be arguably his biggest non-MCU role, and it will be interesting to see how he pulls it off.
#Peace.Love.FredAstaire
