Entertainment
Tom Holland confirms role as Fred Astaire in upcoming biopic
Tom is swapping web-slinging for Swing Time (Picture: Getty)
Tom Holland has revealed he will play Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic about the legendary American actor and dancer.
The Spider-Man star said he was yet to read the script but confirmed he would be taking on the role of the iconic hoofer.
Asked about the project at an event in Leicester Square, central London, he told the Associated Press: ‘I am playing Fred Astaire. Yeah, I am.’
Producer Amy Pascal, who works with Tom on the Spider-Man franchise, recently said she wanted him to play Astaire, but he had not commented on the suggestion previously.
Asked about the script he said: ‘I haven’t read it yet. They haven’t given it to me.
‘Amy Pascal has the script. She Facetimed me earlier.
Spider-Man star Tom confirmed he had accepted the role of the iconic dancer (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)
‘I was in the bath and we had a lovely Facetime.’
Earlier in his career the 25-year-old BRIT school alumnus cut his teeth in musical theatre by playing the title role in Billy Elliot: The Musical in the West End.
He also treated us all to that viral lip-sync mash-up performance of Rihanna’s Umbrella and Singin’ in the Rain on Lip Sync Battle in 2017, which served as a reminder of his dance capability.
Fred Astaire became a huge Hollywood star in the 1930s, following a successful stage career and dancing partnership with his sister Adele, when he formed a dancing partnership with Ginger Rogers.
Astaire was one of the biggest Hollywood stars (Picture: Bettmann Archive)
The duo starred together in nine musicals for RKO Studios, including Top Hat, Swing Time and Follow the Fleet.
As well as lavish and expertly choreographed dance numbers, their films featured music from popular songwriters including Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin.
Astaire continued to enjoy great success in movie musicals during the 1940s and 50s, starring opposite performers such as Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth and Audrey Hepburn in 1957’s Funny Face.
Astaire and Ginger Rogers enjoyed a popular partnership in a string of musicals (Picture: RKO Pictures/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
He also reunited with Rogers one final time for 1949’s The Barkleys of Broadway.
It was first mentioned that Chaos Walking star Tom might be playing Fred Astaire in a November GQ profile, which also saw the actor’s Spider-Man co-star Jacob Batalon confirm he was interested in the role of Bond.
A representative for Sony Pictures confirmed to Variety that the Fred Astaire biopic is in ‘very early stages’ of development.
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There is also a separate Astaire and Rogers biopic in the works at Amazon Studios, set to star another famous Billy Elliot, Jamie Bell, and Margaret Qualley.
Tom Holland will appear in the latest instalment of the web-slinging hero, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is set for release on December 17.
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