Dear Hollywood, Please Stop Putting Tom Holland in Movies
The startling lack of diversity in Hollywood is starting to show.
“Hollywood Sign” by Chang’r is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
November 1, 2021
Last week, Sony Pictures released the first trailer for “Uncharted,” a movie based off of the well-known video game series. As a fan of the game, I was pumped! I don’t necessarily have high hopes for the film, but it looks to be a pretty fun time at the movies – except for one thing.
As I was watching the trailer, Tom Holland comes on screen, clearly playing the main character. As soon as I saw him, I said out loud in my room by myself, “Oh no, not Tom Holland.”
Not because I hate Tom Holland. Quite the contrary; I’m a big fan. I think he’s a phenomenal actor and a cool dude. It just feels like he’s everywhere. Most recently, he just had two movies “Cherry” and “Chaos Walking” released earlier this year, two days apart. Any time I want to see what movies are out or coming out soon, boom! There he is, staring dramatically off into the distance on some movie poster or thumbnail of another action movie trailer.
So I have to ask; Hollywood, can we please stop casting Holland in leading roles? Not because I don’t want to watch him work wonders with his craft, but because I strain to be ensnared by the movie I’m supposed to be watching. It’s hard to create that degree of separation and suspend my disbelief if I can only see Holland prancing about in front of a camera doing backflips.
Maybe this is a singular issue, and I’m just too into Holland to fully interact with the movie, but it happens with other actors as well. George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Michael Keaton are just a few I can name off the top of my head. For me, it happens when an actor is overused in too many roles that are too similar. And I think this stems from an issue larger than just using the same actor over and over too many times.
This stems from the blatant lack of diversity in Hollywood.
Sure, it’s an issue that’s been getting better over the past few years, but just because it’s better doesn’t mean it’s solved. Hollywood still struggles to hire actors of color and queer actors, and it still struggles to put women in leadership roles behind the camera. According to a study published in Sept. 2020 by the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, out of the 100 top grossing films of 2019, 34.3% of all speaking characters were actors of color, 1.4% were LGBTQ+ and 2.3% were depicted with a disability. And out of 112 directors in 2019, 12 were women.
Sure, Holland is a great actor, but is there anything he can do that Elliot Fletcher can’t? How about Keiynan Lonsdale or Rhenzy Feliz? Hollywood has the means to equalize the playing field, and yet we are hardly seeing anything come of it.
So I ask again: Hollywood, can we please stop casting Holland in leading roles? Can we use those means to actually make an impact and expand the list of triple A actors to include actors of color and queer actors? Can we start putting women in leadership roles behind the camera? Yes, we can. Now we’re just waiting for you to actually follow through.
Jason M. Kelly, MPH • Nov 2, 2021 at 9:31 am
Personally, I don’t care to see anymore films or television shows casting LGBTQI+ actors. They are everywhere, as are the incessant political undertones.
I just want to go to the movies to be entertained and not awakened to the latest political viewpoint that the leftist Hollywood elites wish to share.
It may be that many in the audience share my view, which is why these movies just are not making money and being shunned. This isn’t about diversity, it’s about audiences shunning the woke Hollywood culture and looking for alternatives to it. I for one would much rather listen to a podcast from Ben Shapiro that watch most what’s on offer from Hollywood of late.
Addison • Nov 2, 2021 at 9:26 am
The article says it’s unfair that only 34.3% of speaking characters were “actors of color,” when 31.9% of the US population are Hispanic or black. 1.4% of characters are “LGBTQ” and identified as such, which doesn’t include characters whose attractions aren’t identified at all, like characters in kids’ movies–of which there were many that year. 5.6% of the US population identifies as LGBTQ, and more than half of those people are bisexual, meaning that for all we know, characters with boy/girlfriends of the opposite sex could be bisexual. Finally, most people with disabilities don’t have visible disabilities that require the use of a cane or wheelchair or other assisting device. In fact, 90% of all disabilities are invisible and therefore harder to put onscreen.
Tom Holland is popular because he’s a good actor and he’s young, funny, easygoing, and people love his accent. Can we blame directors for trying to capitalize on his popularity? Instead of being hyper-focused on what actors look like, we can appreciate their talents and personalities.
John Chirayil • Nov 1, 2021 at 9:15 pm
As much as I love Tom Holland and all, I don’t think he’s the best fit for Nathan Drake. Believe me, I have played all 4 games in the series. If he were to play young Nathan Drake from Uncharted 3, that would be fine since he’s a young-looking actor. I know that Holland is a very popular actor and I’m sure they are using him to attract more audience, which is understandable; but again, he wouldn’t be a good fit. I was thinking maybe Tom Hardy (aka the guy who played Eddie Brock in Venom) could play Nathan Drake instead. After all, he at least looks a bit like Nathan Drake.
Scarlett • Nov 1, 2021 at 4:59 pm
I completely disagree with you Mr. Bishop. Tom Holland is an amazing actor and to be completely honest with you, deserves more credit. He has played many amazing roles such as Lucas (The impossible 2013), Thomas Nickerson(In the heart of the sea 2015), Spider-man/Peter Parker(Avengers: infinity war 2018), Walter Beckett(Spies in disguise 2019), Spider-man/Peter Parker (Avengers: endgame 2019), Ian lightfoot(Onward 2020), Arvin Eugene Russel(The devil all the time 2020), Cherry(Cherry 2021), Todd(chaos walking 2021).
The reason he is being cast so much is because people love him, and want to watch him work his art. Do you know how many Tom Holland fanpages and websites there are? I don’t even know there are so many! People love him because he loves his job, he loves being in front of the screen and he loves making people happy. Don’t put ‘the race card’ in this article, it’s because people will pay good money to watch an amazing actor like Tom. Also you can tell he’s a good actor just by the people he’s cast with. He’s been cast with legends like Will Smith(known for well, everything) in Spies in disguise. Like Robert Downey. Jr and the rest of the amazing MCU cast who we wouldn’t be able to live our daily lives without to be honest. Like Chris Pratt(known for role as Owen Grady in the Jurassic world franchise) in Onward. Like Chris Hemsworth(known for role as Thor Odinson in the Marvel Franchise) in In the heart of the sea. Like Daisy ridley(known for role as Rey Skywalker in the Star wars franchise) in chaos walking.