Tom Holland didn’t need spidey sense to know this wasn’t going well.
When it comes to telling audition horror stories, the “Spider-Man” actor says he’s got “quite a few.” While on the promotion circuit for his new movie, “Cherry,” Holland recalled some of his audition fails to Backstage, including his tryout for the part of Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Of course, actor John Boyega went on to make Finn a fan favorite character in the new “Star Wars” trilogy.
But Holland said he was “four or five” auditions in when things got ― eh ― bleeped up.
“I remember doing this scene with this lady, bless her, and she was just a drone. So I was doing all of this, like, ‘We gotta get back to the ship!’ And she was going, ‘Bleep, bloop bloop, bleep bloop.’ I just couldn’t stop laughing,” Holland said. “I found it so funny. And I felt really bad, because she was trying really hard to be a convincing android or drone or whatever they’re called.”
Spoiler alert: He didn’t get the part.
“That wasn’t my best moment,” Holland said.
The actor also talked about losing a role in “November Criminals” to Ansel Elgort, and how advice from his dad got him through it.
“He was really kind and said, ‘Son, that’s part of success. If you won every single time, winning would become losing.’ It’s like, if I can shoot 4-under in golf every single day, that would become really boring. You need to lose so that the win feels like a win.”
Another spoiler alert: It all worked out.
Despite missing out on “Star Wars,” Holland would go on to debut as Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016. Currently, he’s at work on “Spider-Man 3,” which he called the most “ambitious” standalone superhero film ever.
Talking to HuffPost in 2017 about getting the spidey role, Holland told us: “It’s crazy, man. I genuinely could not describe how I’m feeling right now. It’s the most surreal experience I’ve been through. It’s changed my life. I’ve met some of the best friends I’ll keep forever, and I’m so lucky, man. I’m so, so lucky.”
In other words, things have gone pretty bleeping great.
Read more on Backstage here.