Sometimes it’s easy to forget how quickly famous actors could’ve veered off into completely different career paths and we’d have never heard of them. Likewise, we may struggle to imagine actors doing things outside their biggest roles. Daniel Radcliffe will always be Harry Potter (despite the franchise ending eight years ago), Ryan Reynolds will always be Deadpool and Tom Holland will always be Spider-Man.
So, when Holland spoke with Jimmy Kimmel recently, fans were surprised to learn that not only did he nearly not play Peter Parker, but he also almost never went into acting at all. We know, it’s hard to imagine such a thing. According to him, though, acting was not something his mother initially wanted him to pursue. Instead, she wanted him to be a carpenter, even sending him to a school to learn the trade despite him already getting into performing.
He told Kimmel that he thought he was doing pretty good “and mom was like ‘nope’. So I went to this school and I was there studying and I was getting a qualification to become a carpenter.” Kimmel then asked Holland whether he’d learned anything while in the course, to which he replied that he already had some skills in carpentry before enrolling.
Speaking of carpentry, there’s of course another great man who began early on as a carpenter before going on to do incredible things. His name? Harrison Ford, who ultimately went on to find himself as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
But circling back to Holland, and it’s safe to say that he certainly made the right choice in the end, with his charisma and talent in front of the camera making him one of the most enjoyable performers in the business. And with Spider-Man now staying in the MCU for a little while longer, fans can rest easy knowing that the actor has a bright future ahead of him.