Tom Holland(X)

Thomas Stanley Holland was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, to Nicola Elizabeth (Frost), a photographer, and Dominic Holland (Dominic Anthony Holland), a comedian and author. His paternal grandparents were from the Isle of Man and Ireland, respectively. He lives with his parents and three younger brothers—Paddy and twins Sam and Harry. Tom attended Donhead Prep School. After passing the eleven plus exam successfully, he became a pupil at Wimbledon College. Having completed his GCSEs, he began a two-year course at the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in September 2012, a school known for its numerous famous alumni.

Holland began dancing at a hip hop class at Nifty Feet Dance School in Wimbledon, London. His talent was noticed by choreographer Lynne Page (an associate to Peter Darling, choreographer of *Billy Elliot* and *Billy Elliot the Musical*) when he performed with his dance school at the Richmond Dance Festival in 2006. After eight auditions and two years of training, Holland made his West End debut on 28 June 2008 in *Billy Elliot the Musical* as Michael, Billy's best friend. He performed in the title role of Billy for the first time on 8 September 2008 and received praise for his acting and dancing abilities.

In September 2008, Holland (alongside co-star Tanner Pflueger) appeared on a news programme on Channel Five and gave his first TV interview. In 2009, he was featured on ITV1's *The Feel Good Factor*. At the launch show on 31 January, he and two other *Billy Elliot* performers, Tanner Pflueger and Layton Williams, performed a specially choreographed version of the "Angry Dance" from the musical, after which Holland was interviewed by host Myleene Klass. He then trained five ordinary British schoolboys to get fit and prepare a dance routine for the final *The Feel Good Factor* show on 28 March 2009. On 11 March 2010, Holland, along with fellow *Billy Elliot* performers Dean-Charles Chapman and Fox Jackson-Keen, appeared on *The Alan Titchmarsh Show* on ITV1.

On 8 March 2010, to mark the fifth anniversary of *Billy Elliot the Musical*, four current Billy Elliot performers, including Holland, were invited to 10 Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Holland was chosen to lead the special fifth-anniversary performance on 31 March 2010. Elton John, the musical's composer, who attended the performance, called Holland's portrayal "astonishing" and said he was "blown away" by it. Holland continued to perform regularly as Billy, rotating with three other performers, until 29 May 2010, when he completed his run in the musical.

Two months after leaving *Billy Elliot the Musical*, Holland successfully auditioned for a starring role in the film *The Impossible*, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. *The Impossible* is based on a true story from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2012 and was released in Europe in October 2012 and in North America in December 2012.

Holland received widespread praise for his performance, including: "What a debut, too, from Tom Holland as the eldest of their three lads" (*The Telegraph*); "Tom Holland, making one of the finest feature debuts in years" (*HeyUGuys*); "the excellent Tom Holland" (*The Guardian*); "The child performers are uncanny and there is an especially terrific performance from Tom Holland as the resourceful, levelheaded Lucas terrified but tenacious in the face of an unspeakable ordeal" (*Screen Daily*); "Young Holland in particular is astonishingly good as the terrified but courageous Lucas" (*The Hollywood Reporter*); "However, the real acting standout in *The Impossible* is the performance of Tom Holland as the eldest son Lucas. His portrayal is genuine, and at no moment does it feel melodramatic and forced. The majority of his scenes are separate from the lead actors and for the most part it feels like *The Impossible* is Holland's film" (*Entertainment Maven*); "Mr. Holland, meanwhile, matures before our eyes, navigating the passage from adolescent self-absorption to profound and terrible responsibility. He is a terrific young actor" (*The New York Times*).

Holland gave several interviews about his role in *The Impossible*, including video interviews with *Vanity Fair* Senior West Coast editor Krista Smith and *IAMROGUE* Managing Editor Jami Philbrick. He also spoke to *The Hollywood Reporter*, *MovieWeb*, *Today Show* on NBC, and other outlets. His director and co-stars also commented on his performance. Juan Antonio Bayona said, "He had this extraordinary ability to get into the emotion and portray it in a very, very easy way. The best I'd ever seen in a kid." Ewan McGregor noted, "It was wonderful watching Tom who had never worked in front of a camera before, to see him really get it and grow as a film actor as he went along. He's really talented and polite to everyone. It's very easy for children to lose perspective but he's absolutely on the right road and a brilliant actor." Naomi Watts said, "He has an incredible emotional instrument and an unbelievable sense of himself... Tom Holland and I had a couple of moments where we came together and I could just tell how wonderful he was and what a beautiful instrument he had. It was just