Tom Holland Reveals the Star Wars Audition That Had Him in Stitches—And Why It Was a Total Fail

Before Tom Holland became Spider-Man and swung his way into Marvel’s billion-dollar franchise, he had another galaxy on his mind—a galaxy far, far away. In what could have been a pivotal turn in his career, Holland auditioned for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with hopes of joining one of cinema’s most iconic universes. The outcome, however, was anything but serious.

In a now-infamous story Holland shared on Hot Ones, he described the audition that ended in uncontrollable laughter. “I remember doing this scene with this lady, bless her, and she was just a drone,” he recounted, detailing how his scene partner played the role of a droid by making “bleep bloop” noises. As Holland delivered lines like, “We gotta get back to the ship!” he found himself unable to contain his amusement. “I felt bad for laughing through my audition but couldn’t contain my laughter,” he admitted.

Though Holland’s chance at Star Wars slipped through his fingers, the role of Finn went to John Boyega, who brought his own unique energy to the character. For Holland, the setback was temporary. Just a few years later, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, debuting as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. That performance set the stage for him to become one of Marvel’s most beloved stars, eventually headlining films like Spider-Man: Homecoming and the record-breaking Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Holland now looks back on the Star Wars audition as one of those early career missteps, a “bad audition” that’s still good for a laugh. And while he never boarded the Millennium Falcon, his trajectory as Spider-Man has made him a cornerstone of the MCU, leaving fans to wonder if his stumbles in that audition room were ultimately a blessing in disguise.