Tom Holland may be best known for his role as Peter Parker in Marvel Studios' Spider-Man franchise, but he once had his eyes on another Disney film series. Holland recently revealed that he auditioned for a role in Star Wars, but didn’t get the part because he couldn’t stop laughing.
During an interview with Backstage, Holland explained that he was “four of five auditions in” for the role of ex-stormtrooper Finn in the first of Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens. The Spider-Man star recounts doing a scene where he was exchanging dialogue with the droid character BB8 who, like many Star Wars droids, only communicates with gibberish beeping sounds. According to Holland, BB8’s lines were being read by a lady who Holland describes as a “drone.” Despite his best efforts, the actor says he just couldn’t get through the audition without laughing. “I found it so funny. And I felt really bad," Holland explained, "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.”
The role of Finn would eventually go to actor John Boyega, who, after appearing in all three sequel movies, expressed criticism of Disney’s handling of black characters in Star Wars. In a candid interview with GQ, Boyega stated in regards to Disney’s handling of Finn, “do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up.” Boyega has also described being attached to the role of Finn as being placed in “luxury jail”, saying he was “starved” and unable to pursue other projects due to the big commitment required for Star Wars. However, Boyega seems to have moved on from the Star Wars franchise and has recently earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Steve McQueen's critically acclaimed anthology Small Axe.
Despite the botched audition, Holland has gone on to land several other big franchise roles in the years since. In addition to landing the high-profile role of Marvel superhero Spider-Man at the age of 19, first appearing as the web-slinger in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Holland will portray Nathan Drake for Sony Pictures' long-awaited movie adaptation of the popular video game series Uncharted. Next month, Holland's Cherry, a film based on a semi-autobiographical book by veteran Nico Walker, will debut on Apple TV Plus.
It’s interesting to think about what Disney’s endlessly controversial Star Wars Sequel trilogy would have been like with Holland in the role of Finn. Disney and Lucasfilm have received a lot of criticism for their perceived lack of planning when it comes to the sequel trilogy, and Finn’s uneven character arc is amongst those complaints. Despite Star Wars continuously being a divisive topic amongst fans, many seem to agree that Boyega was an excellent presence in all three films. There’s also the reality that Holland would likely have never gotten the role of Spider-Man had landed the role in Star Wars, and that would be a downright tragedy.
The Star Wars saga is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Backstage