How Tom Holland Blew His Audition For Star Wars

Tom Holland has mentioned his failed "Star Wars" audition in passing before, but now we're finally getting privy to the details. According to a new interview with YouTube's Hot Ones, it turns out the actor lost all composure during a line reading for the latest trilogy, collapsing into a giggle fit that he couldn't come back from. To be fair, it sounds like a pretty funny situation.

So who was Holland hoping to play in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"? None other than hero Finn (John Boyega), the former stormtrooper who defects to join Rey (Daisy Ridley) and others on the side of the Jedi. Auditions for the sequel trilogy were likely held around 2014, so for this story to work, you'll have to picture a version of Holland that's just a bit older than he was in his breakout role in "The Impossible." Got an image of tiny Tom Holland in your head? Good.

Holland explained that a particularly enthusiastic droid stand-in was the impetus for his laugh attack. "I just remember thinking there's no way this lady's gonna read the robot's lines opposite me," Holland said, "because that would be ridiculous." Holland clearly underestimated his scene partner. She started responding to his lines in earnest with various beeps and boops.

Holland thought this was a joke and continued on with his audition. However, after a moment, he realized his scene partner would be making robot noises the entire time. "You're not actually gonna do that, right?" he asked naively, and was assured that the robot was a serious part of the scene. It doesn't sound like Holland meant to insult the robot actor; rather, he thought she was joking and didn't catch on until it was too late to professionally recover. By this point, Holland, tickled by the actor's commitment, couldn't hold in his laughter.

"You know when you realize you've got something so wrong?" Holland continued, indicating that he was cracking up over his own misunderstanding along with the droid acting. "I just couldn't stop laughing." Needless to say, Boyega was cast as Finn, and Holland went on to play Peter Parker in five Marvel films and counting. For the sake of Holland and everyone he shares a set with, I hope "Spider-Man: No Way Home" doesn't feature any beep-booping androids.

In the end, Holland thinks his laughter didn't factor in to the casting directors' decisions as much as Boyega's talent did. "I don't think that's the reason why I didn't get the role," he said of the incident. "I think John Boyega was just better for the role than me." 

Holland will return as Spider-Man in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" on December 17, 2021.