I feel uncomfortable with disclosing just how overdue this post truly is.
But hey, now I have a legit reason behind my complete and utter inability to schedule posts on time. (Your girl has been working her butt off from 7 to 5 every single working day. ) With that being said, a promise is a promise. I have a confession to make. I’ve found myself in love with a complete stranger. He knows absolutely nothing about me and truthfully, I can’t say that I know him all too well either. After all, the tabloids and the internet can conjure up rumours that fit their fancy and Tom Holland could just be falsely portraying this incredibly humble and charismatic persona; that has gotten me weak in the knees and emotional all over.
That’s right. It is the great Tom Holland.
It is absolutely ridiculous for me to proclaim my love for a person whom I have never even been granted the chance to meet. My mind understands this fact very clearly but my heart still insists on pursuing this matter and I, inevitably, just had to give in to it. As always, there is a history behind this newfound impossible love and as always, let the story begin.
I thought that my first encounter with Tom was when he had made his debut as the young and innocent Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. Unbeknown to me, I had actually been graced by Tom Holland’s incredible talent many years ago. After or during the Billy days, Tom was able to land the role of ‘Sho’ for the UK edition of Studio Ghibli’s ‘The Secret World Of Arrietty’. Which, astonishingly, was the only English dub version that happened to appeal to me. As you all are aware, English dubs just possess a certain cringe-worthy element (unlike any other) however this specific edition was just one of the rare exceptions.
Now that we’ve touched basis on my brief history with Tom, we shall begin by moving on to my complete and utter excitement of Spider-Man making an appearance in Captain America; Civil War. I’m not even joking, I watched the Civil War trailer for the very first time when I cashed in my free (of course) movie ticket for DeadPool and as soon as Spider-Man stole the Captain’s shield, landed and uttered those fateful words of ‘Hey Everyone’; I was done. Spider-Man has been a long-running superhero of mine and I didn’t care who had landed the role this time because I wasn’t a big fan of the previous actors either.
I did love the fact that Spider-Man was finally included in the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe and Tom Holland’s portrayal of an excited and worrisome teenage Spider-Man had me cheering through all of his scenes. I’m sure that I wouldn’t be the only one in openly admitting that Civil War was pretty darn horrible aside from the airport battle scene. I was completely oblivious of Tom Holland’s existence and as far as I was concerned, this was the first time that I was provided with the chance to see his face on the big screen. At first, I thought nothing of him at all. I loved his scenes and that was it. A big contributing factor, as to why I did not immediately search him up on IMDB, was because of how crucial my studies were for the whole of last year. So I held off the urge to perform any sort of investigation and left it all at just that.
A few months later, I revisited the film and he managed to secure my attention again. From here, it led to watching his interviews, following him on Instagram, increasing the number of his twitter followers, discovering his amazing opportunity of having been cast as Billy for Billy Elliot the Musical and browsing through his past film appearances. It was pretty hectic because I just spiralled into this never-ending black hole of being so completely infatuated with this celebrity. I had rather liked his performances in both Civil War and The Secret World of Arrietty (and unfortunately there were no videos of his Billy live performances online), I did venture on to explore and discover more of his other performances and hence, The Impossible.
I was contemplating the viewing of this film. It did look rather interesting as it was based on a true story of how devastating the 2004 tsunami was in Thailand and how miraculous it was that an entire family survived through such turmoil. The fact that Ewan McGregor played the role of the father had me even more intrigued however, the tipping point that had me completely jumping on board was the fact that my parents also recommended this film for me to watch it. Who am I to deny a recommendation?
Thus, I sat down one afternoon and just powered through The Impossible. I feel a review creeping up on me so I shall do my utmost best to stay away from delivering any forms of synopses, thoughts and opinions on anything other than Tom. I initially felt a very strong annoyance towards Lucas (Tom’s character and the marvellous eldest son) however, once Lucas learnt that he could be of use and he accepted the fact that being scared didn’t naturally mean you lacked bravery, he completely touched my heart. Tom must have been only 12-14 years of age during that performance but he was able to channel through all of that emotion and truly bring justice to Lucas’ story.
I wasn’t completely sure if the directors intended for Tom to be the leading star but all I know is that his performance completely outshone Mr McGregor’s. Following on from The Impossible, I thought that I should maybe give In The Heart Of The Sea a chance while I was still at the peak of my little frenzy. I experienced a similar feeling of enthralment towards this film as it was also based on a true story, however this one drew me in even further as it was apparently the true story that served as the basis for the classic literature novel; Moby-Dick.Unfortunately, I am rather ashamed to admit that I have actually not made a move towards picking up the novel and thus, the thought of maybe tackling the inspiration of said novel would pique my interest and perhaps motivate myself for the journey of sinking my paws into the classic.
Despite my wonderful god-like Australian acquaintance doing his best to mimic his finest American accent, I just could not develop a love for the story line at all. I was so completely against every single event that took place. Once again, I am rather swayed to let my review of the film flow out of my keen fingers and into this post. But alas, I must refrain from doing so as it would silently kill the possibility of me ever writing one on Linn Reviews. I honestly cannot form an opinion on Tom’s performance, within this film, at this present moment. However, his performance as the lonely orphan who suffered through hell, committed the deadliest sins and held onto the guilt of a lifetime, was definitely captivating not to mention thoroughly convincing beyond compare. Maybe I’ll just admit it. He performed brilliantly however I honestly would not be able to muster the strength within me to sit through another viewing of the film.
Tom Holland is a British twenty-year-old who is rapidly rising up to greet the world as he’s increasingly gaining more exposure at an almost terrifying rate. His fans are increasing and so are the lists of films that his name’s rapidly getting plastered upon. Despite, his almost chameleon ability to morph into an American accent so seamlessly which is undoubtedly considered to be one of his many talents. I have this underlying fear that he’ll progressively alter his British accent into something foreign and alien. If that day were to ever see the light, it would be most devastating and I might require at least 24-hours of solitude to mourn over such a great loss.
Tom’s talents began with his love for dancing which slowly progressed into learning how to tap-dance and perform ballet; not to forget his already existing skill of Hip Hop. Once attaining the role of Billy, Tom had to sing on stage whilst dancing his heart out for over 2 years. Gymnastics was also one of his many initial talents and he still practices and hones his skill of it religiously as he’s managed to land the role of a lifetime because of it. Unknown to most, as he has yet to find any use of it for most of his existing roles, Tom derives enjoyment and excels at basketball, snowboarding, golf and water activities (aquatics?).
It is no wonder that many have labelled him as being impossibly perfect. I do admit that he is immensely talented beyond compare. However, he still has yet to alter my resolve of nobody being perfect. We may not know it due to the very one-dimensional factor of the mass media; but I would be willing to bet on the fact that Tom is indeed flawed just like the rest of us. And if he truly is as down-to-earth and as level-headed as the media has portrayed him to be; I’m pretty confident that he would admit to his flaws faster than a heartbeat. For me, it was not his appearances and his rising fame which had appealed to me and I have not yet found myself ever contemplating ‘how’ or ‘why’ he has experienced such success. The answer is simple. It’s his mentality, his drive and his persistence that has brought him thus far.
He had tasted the working life at the youthful age of 12. The role of Billy Elliot did not land in his lap and he did not magically roll out of bed and onto the musical stage. He had set the exhausting yet brilliant musical role as a goal of his after being a fan of the musical and he had to train as well as endure two years of auditions and a side role of Billy’s best friend before finally attaining the star role of Billy Elliot. During his years of performances, it was required of him to live away from home and in a house with all of the other actors. At such a young age he was able to discipline himself and focus on his work. It almost makes me embarrassed to admit the fact that I’ve just freshly entered ‘adulthood’ and have yet to incorporate such discipline in my life.
He was placed through the harshest conditions in The Impossible, he suffered injuries on set and yet he managed to send tears cascading down my cheeks as his convincing display of pure agony had me flooding my entire room.
[Honestly, I had stalled this post for an unbelievably long period of time that I have completely forgotten what I was even trying to write. Therefore, let’s just avoid the pretence and perhaps I’ll just continue on with my current perspective on this whole situation.]
Tom Holland is a young man who appears to be the epitome of raw talent. However, he has carved this road out through all of his years of sheer effort and perseverance and he has really motivated me to try a little harder and go a little further. Tom is now this huge celebrity who works away from home and follows a never-ending schedule. I’m thrilled that he’s been enjoying the limelight now and honestly, the last two months -for me- felt completely surreal as I was working away from home; in some ways it felt as if I was able to share the same experience as Tom. Flying alone, sleeping in an unknown bed and missing everything associated with home. It didn’t really help when Tom was able to tear himself away from work to spend Christmas with his family whilst I was still working in another country; completely unable to see my family. I’m going to be honest, it felt like Tom was ditching our one-sided comradery.
An update? I did fall in love with Tom Holland, however my love for him has definitely faltered over the past month or so. As per usual, fame works wonders on altering one’s character and perhaps it’s finally working its magic on Tom. I’m definitely one of the firsts and rare few that shares this view but Tom’s different now. Maybe he was always a little cocky and the media never caught onto it but it doesn’t matter because I really do not know Tom. All I know is this wonderful persona that he has fed to the media however underneath all of that, he’s just a stranger. That’s all he is. And that’s all he will ever be to me.
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