Celebrity Tom Holland Tom Holland Reflected On The “Lasting Impact” Of His Iconic “Lip Sync Battle” Performance And Said It Wasn’t Supposed To Be A “Statement About Toxic Masculinity” “But you’d never catch me doing that now. … I’d rather go and play
golf and live my little private life.” By by Ellen Durney BuzzFeed Staff Posted 2 hours ago
Twitter Facebook Link At just 27 years old, Tom Holland already has some pretty impressive
box office stats to his name — though his most iconic performance happened not in his beloved Spidey-suit, but dressed as Rihanna. Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images As I’m sure you’re familiar, Tom truly solidified himself in the pop culture history books back in 2017, when he and his Spider-Man costar — and now-girlfriend — Zendaya went head-to-head on Lip Sync Battle . Cindy Ord / Getty Images for SiriusXM In the memorable episode, Zendaya goes first, lighting up the stage with an explosive performance of Bruno Mars' “ 24K Magic .” However, she's promptly blown out of the water by Tom, who follows up with a showstopping mashup of “Singin’ in the Rain” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” Paramount Network / youtu.be The two-minute number starts slow, with Tom in a black suit and stylish fedora, doing his very best Gene Kelly impersonation. And just as you start settling in, the beat flips and within a matter of seconds, he’s dressed as
Rihanna in a black bustier, vinyl hot pants, and fishnets, complete with a black bob wig. Paramount Network / youtu.be Putting his extensive dance training to good use, he executes the elaborate choreography to perfection while miming along to the vocals. To make matters more complicated, he’s also somehow doing this in pouring rain. Paramount Network / youtu.be Naturally, the performance ends with a front flip, by which point even Zendaya couldn’t deny the greatness of what she’d just seen, falling to the ground and bowing down to the rightful champion. Paramount Network / youtu.be The video now boasts 143 million views on
YouTube and is so iconic that when Rihanna performed at the
Super Bowl this year, fans were half expecting Tom to make a surprise appearance . Paramount Network / youtu.be Now, six years down the line, Tom is having his say on the performance and its “lasting impact” on pop culture. Paramount Network / youtu.be “I’m proud of it,” he told the
Hollywood Reporter in a brand-new profile, before going on to reflect on what life was like for him in 2017 — just a year after he made his big-screen debut as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. Jason Laveris / FilmMagic “It was an amazing time,” he said. “My life was changing before my eyes. Spider-Man was coming out. I was on the up. I was getting offers and turning them down for the first time, which was really crazy.” David M. Benett / Via Getty Images When Lip Sync Battle aired, Tom was obviously best known for being the hottest new addition to the MCU, meaning it probably came to a shock to some fans to see him give such an impressive performance — dressed in fishnet stockings, no less. Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images In light of this, the reporter asked if his appearance on the show was intended to be a “statement about toxic masculinity,” prompting Tom to set the record straight. Paramount Network / youtu.be “No. Mm-mm,” he said, before clarifying that it was the show’s costume designer who took the reins on his Rih-inspired look. Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images for SiriusXM “I don’t give a fuck. I’ve grown up in the most non-toxic-masculine environment possible,” he said, referring to his days as a West End child star in
London. “I didn’t realize what I was doing was so forward-thinking. I was just like, ‘Yeah, fuck it, I’ll put some fishnets on and dance in the rain. That’ll be really fun. I don’t care.’” Pablo Cuadra / WireImage Despite looking back fondly on the experience, Tom made it clear that it’s not something he’d be interested in trying to re-create. Nina Westervelt / Variety via Getty Images “But you’d never catch me doing that now,” he said, noting that he’s at a point in his career where he no longer has to say “yes” to everything. Amy Sussman / Getty Images “I don’t want to do a fucking TV show that I don’t need to do. I’d rather go and play golf and live my little private life,” he continued. “I’ve really worked hard in my career and I’ve really been calculated in deciding what it is I do and when I do it.” Gilbert Carrasquillo / GC Images That aside, Tom was still happy to acknowledge just how beloved the performance is by fans, admitting that “for all the movies that I’m incredibly proud of, the Lip Sync Battle is what I get the most compliments for.” Prodip Guha / Getty Images You can read Tom’s full interview with the Hollywood Reporter here. More on this Zendaya Had The Best Reaction To Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show After Fans Said Tom Holland Should’ve Made A Guest Appearance To Re-Create His Iconic “Lip Sync Battle” Performance Ellen Durney · Feb. 13, 2023 Tom Holland Just Had The Best Live Reaction To Hearing “No Way Home” Is $23 Million Away From Overtaking “Avatar” At The Box Office After Admitting His Future As Spider-Man Remains Uncertain Ellen Durney · Feb. 2, 2022 Tom Holland Opened Up About Being "In Love", And It's The Sweetest Thing Lauren Garafano · 7 hours ago Topics in this article Tom Holland Zendaya Ellen Durney BuzzFeed Staff Ellen Durney is a Celebrity Reporter for BuzzFeed and is based in London. Contact Ellen Durney at ellen.durney@buzzfeed.com . Got a confidential tip? 👉 Submit it here