Tom Holland will be trading his webbed Spider-Man suit for a pair of dancing shoes to portray Fred Astaire in a new biopic from Sony, the English actor revealed. According to sources, deals for the project are still being finalized.
Sony declined to comment.
“Oh, I am playing Fred Astaire,” Holland told the AP while promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home in London on Sunday. “The script came in a week ago; I haven’t read it yet. They haven’t given it to me. I know Amy Pascal has the script. She Facetimed me earlier when I was in the bath and we had a lovely Facetime. But I will be playing Fred Astaire.”
Pascal first mentioned her eye was on Holland for the role of the legendary dancer, singer, and choreographer in a November profile of Holland in GQ.
The Sony biopic is not to be confused with Amazon and Automatik’s Fred & Ginger starring another Billy Elliot alum, Jamie Bell as Astaire, and Margaret Qualley in the role of Ginger Rogers. Fred & Ginger dives into the love story of the dance partners both on and off-screen, Deadline revealed exclusively last December.
Holland made his debut on the West End stage in Billy Elliot The Music in 2008. He first portrayed the titular character’s friend, Michael Caffrey, before taking on the lead role until 2010.
Astaire’s career spanned 76 years before his death in 1987 from pneumonia. He got his start in the industry early working with his sister in vaudeville before setting his sights on Broadway and London’s West End—before making it big in Tinseltown. He famously starred in 1933’s Dancing Lady with Joan Crawford, 1948’s Easter Parade with Judy Garland, and 1957’s Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn.
