Tom Holland was told he was unattractive enough to play Spider-Man

Nobody’s going to deny that Tom Holland is a handsome man, but it turns out that when he was auditioning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man ahead of Captain America: Civil War, he was given a vote of confidence by someone who said he wasn’t as good-looking as another candidate, which apparently stood him in good stead to land the gig.

It’s a very bizarre anecdote, but let’s not pretend that Hollywood’s decision-making isn’t influenced by the aesthetic qualities of its many stars. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Holland regaled the host and his studio audience with the tale, revealing that the person tasked with driving him to and from his Civil War screen tests offered his unusual opinion.

“When I was going for my last audition, I was driving, I was very nervous, and I had this driver – lovely guy – but a little bit too honest? And he’s sort of sitting there in the car, and he’s chatting to me, chatting to me, chatting to me, and you know I’m a polite person, but I also want to be like ‘Mate please shut up, I’m trying to learn my line.’ And he’s looking at me in the mirror and he’s doing that thing [pretends to adjust rearview mirror] and he’s like ‘Yeah,’ and he’s sort of sitting there really awkward looking at me. And he goes, ‘You know what kid, I think you’re going to get it.’ And I’m like ‘Really?! Why?!’ And I was excited to hear that. He goes ‘You know what? I think you’re going to get it because the kid that I just drove there? He is so good-looking.” 

Looking at the final shortlist who were in the running to suit up as the rebooted Peter Parker, there’s a chance the driver may have been talking about Timothee Chalamet. The future Dune star, Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Liam James, Judah Lewis, Matthew Lintz, Charlie Plummer and Charlie Rowe were among the final candidates before Holland won out, but it’s hard to imagine anyone other than the current incumbent of the spandex as Spidey.

It’s all worked out pretty well for Holland in the long run, though, with plans already afoot for a brand new trilogy once Spider-Man: No Way Home is in the rear-view mirror.