Spider Man director reveals how Tom Holland beat 1,500 actors for the role at just 19

He fended off a healthy amount of competition nine years ago

Tom Holland’s career has gone from strength-to-strength having made his break when he was just 14-years-old.

Yes, in the 2012 hit movie The Impossible, which is based on a true story following a family vacationing in Thailand when one of the world’s deadliest tsunami crashes down on them, Holland was just a young teen. Although when it was finally released he was 16.

Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Spider-Man (Marvel Studios)

But in the space of just five years, he managed to land one of the most sought after roles in cinematography… at least at the time, and he was just 19-years-old.

Now, reflecting on the Brit’s audition, Anthony Russo explained how Holland was up against more than 1,500 fellow actors worldwide who all fancied their chances of becoming Peter Parker – including Kylie Jenner’s boyfriend and fellow Hollywood star, Timothée Chalamet.

Russo, who alongside his brother Joe Russo, directed Captain America: Civil War – the film in which Holland’s Spider-Man first featured in the multiverse – and knew almost instantly that Holland was the man for the job.

But he actually got the job while director Jon Watts was casting for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Speaking to Men’s Health, Watts said: “He just was so young and sweet, and just charming, and then in the audition, he did a full backflip, like a standing backflip, in addition to being really great on tape.

“It was like watching a video of the real Peter Parker.”

Yes, epically Holland went the extra mile in his virtual video casting, instead of just learning his lines and donning a New York accent, he entered the shot with a series of backflips with him being an avid gymnast.

Russo added: “He was all the things that reminded me of what I loved about Peter Parker as a kid.

Holland confessed to suffering an injury when attempting to backflip in recent years (Cindy Ord/WireImage)

“And he was a movie star. He had that movie-star quality. The charisma, the confidence, the energy.”

But apparently, time has done a number on his body, with the 28-year-old confessing that one of his younger cousins asked him to do a backflip, and, of course, he did… but he regretted doing so.

“I actually did land it, but I pulled every muscle in my stomach,” he told the magazine.

“For weeks, I couldn’t laugh because my stomach was so sore.”

Yeah, I’m not sure Holland will be doing all his own stunts for too much longer – lord knows how Tom Cruise manages it!