The American entertainment legend Fred Astaire will be honored with a biopic starring Tom Holland that will explore the life of the multi-talented icon from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
One of the biggest Hollywood icons was more than a triple threat being a television presenter, actor, choreographer, dancer, and singer known as Fred Astaire. The Hollywood legend made his claim to fame working 76 years in the entertainment industry and he will now be celebrated with a biopic honoring his life’s work starring Tom Holland as Astaire that will document the legacy of his rise to fame.
Holland is known for his ongoing role as Spider-Man in the Marvel movie franchise with a reputation for being a crime-fighting action hero. During a promotional event for his latest Marvel movie “Spider-Man:No Way Home” in London he revealed he will be playing Fred Astaire in an upcoming project. Holland revealed the former head of Sony Pictures and producer of the new project, Amy Pascal, had the script while discussing the role that will provide more details on the role for Holland.
Amy Pascal already has an established relationship with Holland as she has produced the last two Spider-Man movies starring Holland and has disclosed Holland has the option to keep playing Spider-Man she produces until he chooses to stop. In a statement, Pascal explains, “I’ve talked to him [Holland]about doing, like, 100 more. I’m never going to make Spider-Man movies without him. Are you kidding me?” While working on the Astaire biopic, Holland will also be working on another trilogy project for the Spider-Man franchise.
Holland isn’t only an on-screen actor as he previously starred in Billy Elliott the Musical on the international Broadway destination of the West End in London from 2008 to 2010 that required a lot of dance training. Holland compares the dance style when he performed for Billy Elliott saying the technique was similar to a scuffy boot type of tap dancing while Astaire is known for his graceful, elegant style of dancing.
Having some dance experience will help Holland in this next role but he will be brushing up on tap lessons to embody the elegant dance styling Astaire is known for. Holland will be living up to the standards of the Hollywood legend that made 31 musical films, four television specials, numerous recordings, and starred in 10 musicals on Broadway as well as the West End.
Fred Astaire started his entertainment career at a young age after his fired from his job and looked to his talented children to help their financial situation. At the age of 6, young Astaire started his training in singing, dancing, and speaking to form an act at the Alviene Master School of the Theatre and Academy of Cultural Arts.
Astaire made his first debut by November 1905 with one newspaper reviewing being dubbed the greatest child act in vaudeville but eventually stopped performing to avoid troubles with newly passed child labor laws. Astaire continued his stage career when he was older and by the age of 14 was responsible for the music in his sibling duo show.
By 1917, Astaire made his Broadway debut and ultimately led to his debut in the West End quickly making a reputation for himself that caught the attention of Hollywood. Astaire participated in a screentest for the American film production and distribution company RKO Pictures that was the beginning of his movie career going on to make 9 films under RKO.
This is only a brief history of Astaire’s rise to fame with more to be uncovered in the upcoming biopic. The biopic is still in the development phase with the biopic to come out in 2022 or 2023 if there are no production delays.
