While a suspension of disbelief is required when a film superhero's alter ego doesn't warrant instant recognizability to those around him, the real world is much more attentive, and Marvel's current crop of superhero actors are among the most recognizable in Hollywood. But one of the newest recruits, Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland, is getting called out for something far different than being the friendly neighborhood web-slinger. It turns out his impeccable performance of Rihanna's "Umbrella" for Lip Sync Battle has been a bigger star turn for the actor. In his words:
I get recognized more for my Lip Sync Battle than I do for being Spider-Man. People come up to me like, 'Dude, You were so good in Lip Sync Battle!' [To them] 'What do you think about Civil War?' They're like, 'Huh?'
I know I'm not the only one who can extract unadulterated glee from learning that, since it goes against all usual notions of celebrity logic. It stands to reason that the person playing Spider-Man for the big screen, and one who already donned the mask for the widely seen Captain America: Civil War, would pervade the pop culture consciousness more for that role than for being impersonating Rihanna for a special Lip Sync Battle performance at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. Although I suppose it becomes a question of demographics and who's actually doing the recognizing, since MTV's audience skews young, and the video of Holland's act went as viral as viral gets.
Tom Holland shared this pretty hilarious factoid while doing a Facebook Live interview, where he obviously talked a lot about his upcoming solo movie as Spider-Man, as well as working with actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth, who he'd worked with on In the Heart of the Sea. His role for the intense disaster drama The Impossible also got discussed, along with his earliest work on the theatre stage. But none of those roles apparently hold a candle of recognizability to Holland's moves on a different kind of stage.
Like, on the plane yesterday, someone came up to me and was like, 'Your Lip Sync Battle was great.' And I was like, 'Thanks!' I've never been recognized like that before...ever.
Well, for those of us who might not know his face too well just yet, he's like going to be a part of the superhero universe for a while, so Tom Holland's day will come when people throw Peter Parker quips at him rather than compliments about Lip Sync Battle. And that's when we're hoping he goes BACK to Lip Sync Battle for some Cher or Beyoncé.
Check out the actual performance below!
It's highly unlikely that Tom Holland will continue to be mostly spotted for his Rihanna-esque dance moves for much longer, as Spider-Man: Homecoming will sling and swing its way into theaters on Friday, July 7. And you can catch more music-infused hilariousness on Spike, when Lip Sync Battle proper returns for a new night on Wednesday, June 21, at 10:00 p.m. ET. In the meantime, head to our summer premiere schedule to see everything hitting the small screen in the near future.
