Tom Holland’s Secret Role In ‘A Monster Calls’ Revealed
These days,Tom Hollandis best known as the new Spider-Man. But in between his web-slinging exploits inCaptain America: Civil Warand next year’sSpider-Man: Homecoming, you’ll get to catch his work in a very different kind of movie. Only you won’t actually be able to see him or hear him.
As revealed by directorJ.A. Bayona, Holland helped out withA Monster Calls, the cancer drama that nearly drowned TIFF in tears. However, he didn’t have a traditional role per se. As it turns out, Holland was a stand-in for the monster, who is voiced byLiam Neeson.
Based on the novel byPatrick Ness,A Monster Callscenters on a young boy named Conor (Lewis MacDougall) struggling with bullies at school and his mother’s terminal cancer at home. He conjures a monster in the form of a giant yew tree, who tells the boy fables intended to help him cope. In exchange, Conor must tell the tree his deepest, darkest secret.
The Hollywood Reportergot the skinny on the Tom HollandA Monster Callsrole from Bayona himself. While Neeson provides the rumbling, ancient-sounding voice for the monster, Holland helped bring him to life on set. “He was the stand-in for the monster,” confirmed the director. Apparently Holland’s presence proved quite helpful to 14-year-old MacDougall, who added, “It gave me something to look at when I’m talking to the monster.”
In the finished feature, the monster is an entirely CG creation. But it’s not unusual for films with animated characters to have a live person standing in for those characters on set.A Monster Callsshot in 2014, so Holland likely finished up before he had to report for duty onCivil War.In my TIFF review ofA Monster Calls, I spoke highly of MacDougall, who spends much of the movie interacting with the CG monster; now we know one of the secrets to his success.
Holland is not listed among the cast in the end credits forA Monster Calls. Instead, his contribution is acknowledged in the “thanks to” section. Holland had done the project as a favor to Bayona, with whom he’d worked on 2012’sThe Impossible. The tsunami drama was Holland’s first live-action feature film, and though he was just 16 at the time of its release Holland earned a lot of praise for his work opposite Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.
Holland is currently shootingSpider-Man: Homecoming, which is due out August 05, 2025. Outside of the Marvel universe, his upcoming credits include James Gray’sThe Lost City of Z, which debuts next month at the New York Film Festival, and the medieval dramaPilgrimage, which also stars fellow Marvel superhero Jon Bernthal. Bayona, meanwhile, is about to get very busy with his own big-budget blockbuster, theJurassic Worldsequel.
