1. Tom Holland is a trained ballet dancer

Tom Holland was only twelve years old when he joined the cast of “Billy Elliot: The Musical” in 2008. The play, which was based on the 2000 film, follows the story of a young boy who is found to be skipping his boxing class to partake in a girls-only ballet class instead (per IMDB). Holland had been enrolled in dance classes for a few years at that point, and he ended up auditioning for the role after being discovered by a choreographer. One thing led to another, and Holland earned the тιтle role (per GQ).

Holland later explained that while learning ballet had a profound impact on his life’s direction, at the time he had to endure pretty severe bullying. As he told GQ in 2019, other students at school would often look in on his lessons, which took place at school during lunchtime. He shared, “To a bunch of 10-year-olds who all play rugby, Tom Holland doing ballet in the gym isn’t that cool.”

As an adult, Holland seems to have a healthy approach to looking back on the treatment he received from his classmates. He told the publication that dealing with bullies was just part of what he had to go through to get to where he is, and that learning ballet even influenced his turn as Spider-Man. He said, “For instance, in the Spider-Man suit, you often can’t see his face. But I find a way to convey feeling anyway” (per GQ).

2. The actor is also a talented gymnast

The role of Spider-Man definitely requires a limber and flexible actor, as Spidey is often running, flipping, and flying all over New York City while nailing poses that many a yogi can only dream of pulling off. As such, it’s really not a surprise that in addition to ballet, Tom Holland is a trained gymnast and parkour runner.

In fact, Holland’s gymnastics skills are a big part of the reason why he was cast as Spider-Man in the first place. Holland told the ᴀssociated Press (via Collider) that he chose to somersault into and out of the frame during his audition, ᴀssuming that it would be important to the crew that he had the ability to pull off at least a few physical moves. As it happens, he was right, which director Joe Russo confirmed to Entertainment Weekly.

Russo explained that Holland was just the best person for the job, saying, “He’s also a dancer and a gymnast. He fits the part like you can’t believe.”

3. He had his first kiss backstage when he was in Billy Elliot

Winning the role of Billy Elliot in the musical version of the film impacted Tom Holland’s life in a lot of ways, both professionally and personally. In fact, he even shared that he had his first kiss during the production! While chatting to Moviefone alongside “Spider-Man” costar Jacob Batalon, Holland confessed that he kissed a fellow actress during his Billy Elliot run on a dare.

Holland said that he has no regrets, because he was already head over heels. He explained that he was “dared by a friend because I was falling madly in love with her, but she had no interest in kissing me. She was dared to and I made out with her for all of three seconds and it was magical” (via YouTube). Holland also spoke about the moment with W Magazine, sharing in the same interview that his first movie star crush was on Emma Watson when she starred in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”

4. Tom Holland is open about his dyslexia diagnosis

In December 2021, Tom Hollland participated in an interview with 11-year-old superstar reporter Jazlyn Guerra for her show, “Jazzy’s World.” Guerra asked Holland quite a few excellent questions, including one about how his diagnosis of dyslexia impacts his career. While discussing how he works through the challenge, Holland said, “It’s just about taking your time. The better prepared you are for anything, the more you will be able to do and accomplish things that are fantastic” (via Entertainment Weekly).

The website Dyslexia Advantage has provided more details about Holland’s diagnosis, sharing that he received it at the age of seven after being enrolled in a private school. While some people have come at the star online after he’s made spelling or grammar mistakes, it seems that many fans know of his diagnosis. Holland himself even played on the diagnosis in 2019 on Jimmy Kimmel Live, when he attempted to spell Jake Gyllenhaal’s last name and came up short.

5. He wasn’t sure he would keep acting before landing Spider-Man

It’s hard to believe now, given that Tom Holland has made several films in which he’s played Spider-Man, but back in 2014 the would-be Marvel hero was in a bit of a career rut and unsure of whether or not he would continue to work as an actor at all. As he told GQ, he was going on audition after audition after filming the Ron Howard movie “In The Heart Of The Sea” and was feeling like it should be a piece of cake for him to get more work — but absolutely nothing was happening.

Even though Holland felt like he would surely land something after all those auditions, the reality was that he wasn’t approaching the work seriously enough. He says that his mom took action, telling her son that if acting wasn’t going to work out, he needed a plan B. To that end, she signed him for classes at a carpentry school in England, owing to the fact that many of her male relatives were already carpenters and it seemed like the thing to do.

Holland tells the publication that he enjoyed the school a lot, though he did audition for four movies while enrolled. The very last audition was for a little movie called “Captain America: Civil War.” As he shares, he was still in classes when he found out he won the spot, and the rest is history.