【明報專訊】．Tom Holland

．Age: 23

．Nationality: British

From stage to screen

As a schoolchild, Tom Holland took hip hop classes as an interest, where his talent was spotted by his teacher. This led to his first acting role in Billy Elliot the Musical. Holland first played a major supporting role, but was shortly given the title role. His performing career began.

Holland further honed his skills in the reputable BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. He took his first film role at the age of 16 in The Impossible, starring alongside Naomi Watts, who played his mom in the film and greatly praised his acting. In 2016, Holland became the youngest actor ever to play the classic superhero, Spider-Man, and gained enormous popularity from his charismatic performance.

■Photo Story

Holland loves his family pet, Tessa, very much. He often posts photos of Tessa on Instagram and even brought her to one of his movie events. (photo.3)

Before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Holland already knew Chris Hemsworth (right), who played Thor in the series. The actors worked together in the 2015 film In the Heart of the Sea. (photo.4)

■Gear up

Fill in the blanks with suitable words from the passage.

(1) Spider-Man is a ________________ superhero.

(2) Tom gained _________________ from playing Spider-Man.

(Answers on next text)

■English highway﹕

shortly = in a short time; soon

e.g. An official letter will be sent to you shortly.

■Glossary

spot (v) 發現

further (adv) 進一步

charismatic (adj) 有魅力的

event (n) 活動

[Smarties' Power English 第251期]