Almost a decade since his iconic dance on Lip Sync Battle, Tom Holland says he is more famous for that performance than his Spider-Man movies. The actor is currently busy promoting the upcoming Christopher Nolan epic drama, Odyssey, in which he stars as the titular Greek hero, Odysseus’s son, Telemachus.
Tom Holland believes fans recognize him more from his 2017 Umbrella dance
During his Odyssey promotional tour, Tom Holland appeared as a guest on the June 2 episode of Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang. At one point, Poehler brought up his 2017 appearance on Lip Sync Battle. She said, “I’ve watched it five thousand times. I’ve probably watched it more than most movies.” Holland replied, “I get more compliments for that dance than any piece of work I have ever done.”
The Marvel star went head-to-head with his co-star and now partner Zendaya in the Lip Sync Battle. While the actress performed her version of Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic, Holland had a little surprise in store for the audience. He started with a performance of Singin’ in the Rain in a grey suit before ripping off his suit to reveal a form-fitting black vest, matching shorts, a short dark wig, fishnet tights and red lipstick, as the song transitioned to Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” Under the artificial rain, he delivered a well-choreographed dance to the song.
In the podcast, Poehler said she believed that the performance became so popular because it showed a person who was “comfortable with their feminine side.” Referring to his early dance background, she continued,” You’ve talked about it, being a young boy doing ballet, being a person who’s had to figure out what is typically male, what is typically female.”
The Uncharted actor revealed that during dress rehearsals for the performance, the lady suggested shortening his shorts even further. He recalled saying, “I was like, ‘No. I’m doing enough. This is still years ahead of its time.'” It really was enough considering how people adore it to this day.
