Tom Holland

Tom Holland Bio

Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor whose career has spanned stage and screen since childhood. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and three Saturn Awards, and his leading films have grossed over $9.9 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time. Holland was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list of 2019 and is best known internationally for playing Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Early Life and Background

Thomas Stanley Holland was born on 1 June 1996 in Kingston upon Thames, in south-west London, England, to photographer Nicola Frost and comedian-author Dominic Holland. He grew up in Kingston upon Thames near the home of his parents and his three younger brothers. His parents both work in creative professions, and Holland has often cited his father as a role model who has unofficially served as his manager because of his industry experience. His paternal grandmother was Irish from County Tipperary, and his paternal grandfather was Manx from the Isle of Man.

Holland was educated at Donhead Preparatory School, an all-male Catholic preparatory school in Wimbledon in the Merton borough of south-west London. When he was seven, he was diagnosed with dyslexia, and his parents enrolled him in a private school so that he could receive proper attention. He later attended Wimbledon College, a voluntary aided Jesuit comprehensive school, before continuing his studies at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in the Selhurst area of Croydon. In his teens, Holland briefly attended a carpentry school in Cardiff, Wales, and at one point considered becoming a primary school teacher.

Path to Celebrity

Holland’s path to acting began at a hip-hop class at Nifty Feet Dance School in Wimbledon, where he performed with his school group at the 2006 Richmond Dance Festival. Choreographer Lynne Page, an associate to Billy Elliot the Musical choreographer Peter Darling, noticed him and arranged an audition. After two years of training in ballet, tap dancing, and acrobatics, Holland won the supporting role of Michael Caffrey in Billy Elliot the Musical and made his West End debut in 2008 at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Later that year, he and co-star Tanner Pflueger were promoted to the title role, which Holland played until 2010.

His stage work drew the attention of filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona, who cast Holland in the disaster drama The Impossible (2012). The film, in which he starred as a teenager trapped with his family in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to critical and commercial success. Holland’s performance earned him the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year, along with a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Actor.

Tom Holland Career

Early Career (2006-2015)

After finishing Billy Elliot the Musical in 2010, Holland voiced a role in the British dub of the Japanese animated fantasy film Arrietty (2011). He made his English-language film debut with The Impossible (2012), then followed it with roles in the drama How I Live Now (2013), a voice part in Locke (2013), and a cameo in Billy Elliot the Musical Live (2014). In 2015, he appeared in four episodes of the BBC Two historical mini-series Wolf Hall as Gregory Cromwell and co-starred with Chris Hemsworth in the historical adventure-drama In the Heart of the Sea, in which he played teenage sailor Thomas Nickerson. That same year, he directed the short film Tweet (2015), a three-minute piece about a young man building a birdhouse with his grandfather.

In June 2015, Holland signed a six-picture deal with Marvel Studios to play a teenage Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, after auditioning against 1,500 teenagers worldwide. He first appeared as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (2016), a critical and commercial hit that grossed more than $1.1 billion worldwide. He also co-starred in the psychological thriller Edge of Winter (2016) and the drama The Lost City of Z (2017) alongside Charlie Hunnam.

Breakthrough (2016-2021)

At the 70th British Academy Film Awards in 2017, Holland won the BAFTA Rising Star Award. That year, he played the title role in Spider-Man: Homecoming, earning an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest actor to play a title role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film, made on a budget of $175 million, grossed more than $800 million worldwide. He also appeared in The Current War (2017) as Samuel Insull and in the Irish film Pilgrimage, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Holland reprised his role as Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), two of the highest-grossing films of all time, and went on to star in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), the first Spider-Man film to earn $1 billion. He earned a third consecutive Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Far From Home. His voice work during this period included Spies in Disguise (2019), Dolittle (2020), and Onward (2020). Holland then took on more mature roles in the Netflix crime drama The Devil All the Time (2020) and the Russo brothers’ Cherry (2021), in which he played a college student suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. His 2021 schedule ended with Spider-Man: No Way Home, the highest-grossing film of 2021 and the sixth highest-grossing film of all time at the time of its release.

Notable Works and Milestones

Holland’s signature work remains his portrayal of Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, in six Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Among his most dramatic moments, his performance in The Impossible (2012) brought him early critical acclaim, and his starring role in Cherry (2021) demonstrated his range as a serious dramatic actor. He has also won a BAFTA Award, three Saturn Awards, three Teen Choice Awards, and two Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

Tom Holland Award Nominations

Tom Holland has received numerous award nominations across his career, recognising his work in film and television. He earned a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Actor for The Impossible (2012) and was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries for his work in the Apple TV+ series The Crowded Room (2023). His performances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other films have also brought additional recognition from international film organisations and youth-oriented awards ceremonies.

Tom Holland Awards Won

Holland has won a BAFTA Award, three Saturn Awards, three Teen Choice Awards, and two Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards over the course of his career. He won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2017 and took home the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year for The Impossible (2012). His three Saturn Awards for Best Performance by a Younger Actor were awarded for Captain America: Civil War (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2018), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

Tom Holland Family

Holland was born to photographer Nicola Frost and comedian-author Dominic Holland, who both work in creative fields. His father, Dominic Holland, is a well-known British comedian and author who has also unofficially served as his manager because of his industry experience. Holland has three younger brothers, and he grew up in Kingston upon Thames near the home of his parents and siblings. His paternal grandmother was Irish from County Tipperary in Southern Ireland, and his paternal grandfather was Manx from the Isle of Man.

Personal Life

Holland has been in a relationship with actress Zendaya since 2021, with the couple confirming their romance in November of that year. The couple moved into a London home in 2023, became engaged in December 2024, and were reported to have married in 2026. Holland is a fan of the professional football club Tottenham Hotspur. He has discussed having dyslexia and, in a 2025 interview, stated that he has ADHD. After participating in Dry January in 2022, he became a teetotaller and in October 2024 launched BERO, a low-alcohol beer brand.