The movie Tom Holland has “no shame” in calling his all-time favourite: “I was so in awe”
After an interview in which Tom Holland asked who Pedro Almodóvar was, many internet cinephiles were whipped into a frenzy – how could the British wunderkind and face of Marvel not know who the man behind Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was?
But for Tom Holland, his taste in cinema has always been authentic to himself and the driving forces that led him to where he is today – falling in love with the nostalgic classic that we lose ourselves in as children and devoting a career to those very kinds of stories.
From his infamous role as Spider-Man, with some who argue that he is the best live-action iteration of the character, to his equally iconic dance battle to Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’, there is seemingly nothing the actor can’t do, embodying the ideal of the artistic triple threat through his ability to sing, dance and act.
But since his beginnings as a child actor in films like The Impossible and The Heart of the Sea, some have argued that Holland has slightly lost his way, seemingly becoming the face of commercial blockbusters after repeat appearances in the Marvel universe and reprising the role of Nate in the Uncharted adaptation.
However, it would seem as though Holland has not lost his way but simply found himself over the years, evolving into a Tom Cruise-esque performer of his generation through his natural talent for devil-may-care stunts and high-octane dramas, sparking intense buzz after the announcement that he will star in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic, The Odyssey.
While he might not be well-versed in the types of films that Almodovar makes, his proclivity for these types of projects has been there since the very beginning, with the actor confessing his love for one major film that prophesies the later trajectory of his career.
Holland might have made a name for himself through these blockbuster-adjacent projects, but there was one film that laid the groundwork for the type of career that he has had, with the likes of Avatar and Titanic being the blueprint for this era of cinema. Unsurprisingly, the work of James Cameron and his 2009 film Avatar is one that has heavily inspired Holland, with the actor saying, “My third favourite movie is probably Avatar. You know, sort of ahead of its time. I was so in awe of that movie and I loved watching the visuals and being introduced into that crazy, crazy life and world of Pandora”.
It’s an answer that has cropped up many times for Holland, and when asked again what his favourite film was, he said, “I take no shame in saying Avatar”. When you connect with a story, you do so immediately. People like what they like, and there should be no hierarchy of taste that determines who is more entitled to their love of movies compared to someone else.
Holland has clearly found the types of stories that make him tick, and while his appearance in a more dramatic role is very welcome, I, for one, am glad that he seems to have been happy to devote himself to the art of entertainment, making the kinds of films that audiences need and have captured us for many years.
