Tom Holland Says He Went Undercover at a High School to Prepare for Spider-Man: Homecoming

The actor plays Peter Parker in the 2017 film

By Corinne Heller Dec 10, 2016 5:17 PMTags
Tom Holland, Spider-Man: HomecomingChuck Zlotnick/Columbia Pictures; Facebook

Talk about method acting: Tom Holland really is Peter Parker.

The 20-year-old British star played a little 21 Jump Street while preparing for his role in Spider-Man: Homecoming by pretending to be a new student at a New York City high school.

Holland revealed his undercover operation in a Facebook Live session Friday.

"The coolest thing I think I did for the movie was I was enrolled in a high school in New York, in the Bronx, as a secret," he said. "No one knew who I was or what I was doing. I had a fake name, a fake accent. I went to school for three days, I think. It was really fun."

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"It was really interesting because New York high schools are so different than the schools that I went to in London," he said. "When I went to school, you had to wear a suit and tie and it's all boys and for me, it was the first time I was in a classroom with girls. It was like a really strange experience. It was really fun."

Holland didn't keep his secret for long. But naturally, the kids he told didn't believe him.

"I told one kid at the school, I was like, 'Hey man, I'm actually Spider-Man.' He did not believe me, was like, 'What? No.' I said, 'No, seriously, I'm Spider-Man. Like, no joke. Like, let's not mess around anymore. I'm Spider-Man.' He's like, 'I don't believe you,'" Holland said. "And at the time, I hadn't made the movie so I didn't have any pictures to show him, to prove that I was Spider-Man. And he did not believe me at all."

 

 

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Another girl seemed highly suspicious of him from the get-go.

"She was sitting next to me and she was like, 'What's your deal, man? Like, why are you at our school? Like, this is a science school, you can't just enroll, you have to come from the beginning,'" Holland said. "And I was like, 'Oh, well, I have a secret. I have a secret.' And she was like, 'What? This guy's a freak. Like, what the hell? ...and then I started doing an English accent...'I'm actually Spider-Man.' And she was like, 'Dude, you're nuts. You are literally the craziest guy I've ever met in my life.'"

Holland did not name the school. The actor visited the Bronx High School of Science in February and was photographed with a group of students. In a Facebook post, the school identified him by name.

Spider-Man: Homecoming depicts Peter's life as a teenager who attends a New York City school for gifted kids. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is his new benefactor. Peter learns to use his powers responsibly and also deals with a new enemy, The Vulture. The first trailers for the film were released this week.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is set for release on July 7.