Tom Holland Auditioned For Finn In 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' And It Didn't Go Well
It turns out that before he became Spider-Man, Tom Holland auditioned to join a galaxy far, far away. In a new interview, Holland reveals that he auditioned to play Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a role that went to John Boyega in the end. And based on Holland's story, it's no surprise he didn't land the part since the audition didn't go so well.
Tom Holland has become a big star thanks to his memorable work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though he's not the first to play Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Holland does bring a lot of fun, nervous, nerdy energy to the role. But in some alternate timeline, Holland might not have landed the Spider-Man role in the MCU because he would've been too busy with another mega-franchise – Star Wars. Speaking with Backstage, the actor – who has both Cherry and the long-delayed Chaos Walking arriving in the next few weeks – revealed he auditioned for the role of Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens:
"I remember my audition for Star Wars, I was like four or five auditions in, and I think I was auditioning for John Boyega's role. I remember doing this scene with this lady, bless her, and she was just a drone. So I was doing all of this, like, 'We gotta get back to the ship!' And she was going, 'Bleep, bloop bloop, bleep bloop.' I just couldn't stop laughing. I found it so funny. And I felt really bad, because she was trying really hard to be a convincing android or drone or whatever they're called. Yeah, I obviously didn't get the part. That wasn't my best moment."
It's an amusing story, but the curmudgeon in me also reads that and thinks, "Wow, Tom Holland is weirdly unprofessional here!" I mean, sure, it is a little silly to be pretending you're interacting with a droid, but is that any goofier than pretending to be Spider-Man? Holland had to audition for that, too, and he managed to not crack up and blow it.
In any case, it all worked out in the end. Holland got to be Spider-Man, and John Boyega landed the role of Finn. I know Boyega has expressed justifiable disappointment with how the Star Wars sequel trilogy handled Finn and sidelined the character, but his work in Force Awakens is great, and I have no doubt that he was a much better choice for that role than Holland. And, coincidentally enough, Holland got to co-star with Force Awakens lead Daisy Ridley in Chaos Walking.