Tom Holland has given his clearest update yet on the long-planned Fred Astaire biopic, and the approach he is taking to the role is ambitious. Speaking on Good Morning America, Holland said he plans to perform all of his own dancing in the film with no stunt doubles and to shoot the dance sequences as single continuous takes.
"I did my first few rehearsals recently, and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread because I've got so much work to do to try and do Fred proud," Holland said.
His reasoning for the single-shot approach is rooted in how Astaire himself worked. Holland said he has "a desire to use no doubles, to do all of the dancing, to shoot those dances in one shot — how [Astaire] would have done it."
The film is directed by Paul King and written by Steven Levenson, according to Deadline. Amy Pascal is producing for Sony. Holland first announced his casting in 2021, nearly five years ago. With his summer commitments including the promotion of The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, he said he plans to return full-time to dance training once those tours are finished.
"We have Fred Astaire next, is what we're planning on doing," Holland said on the program. "And as soon as I finish with these tours, I'm diving back into the dance studio."
Holland is not a stranger to dance or to musical performance. He began his professional career in Billy Elliot: The Musical on London's West End between 2008 and 2010, first in a supporting role before taking the title role. The Sony production should not be confused with a separate Amazon project, Fred and Ginger, which stars Jamie Bell as Astaire and Margaret Qualley as Ginger Rogers and focuses on the dance partners' on and off-screen relationship. Bell himself broke out in the 2000 British dance film Billy Elliot, making the casting lineage between the two productions an unusual coincidence.
Holland's training resumes after his current promotional obligations are complete.
