Tom Hollland in West End Romeo and Juliet

Holland literally got discovered as a stage actor. He played Billy Elliott in the West End for two years to great reviews.

So it's not a risk from the perspective of him being a stage novice. Because he's not. It's just a risk if the production fails, which is always possible with stage shows. I think it's just a smart career move for him at this point, because he's had problems with his project selection outside of his Spider-Man films. His last TV project The Crowded Room got some pretty bad reviews. Things like Cherry didn't pan out. He's lost a lot of momentum as a potential prestige actor, despite the fact that he'll probably be making many millions for many more years to come as Spider-Man. 

He sort of needs a win as an actor outside of the superhero franchise. Stage (and Shakespeare) might be the thing to rejuvenate his rep as a serious young actor in the film industry. A stage success with Romeo And Juliet, will definitely impact how he's seen in the film industry and his overall respect level. Here's hoping it works out for him.

Yes, his background is in theatre. Why downplay that Doing a professional, huge West End stage  show as the lead for Two Years is a frigging long time. Most celebrity stage engagements don't last much longer than 3 months. I don't care if he was a fetus when he last did stage. If you do one show for that long, week in, week out, and you carried it, you have the right to call yourself an experienced stage actor, if not a stage vet. Not to mention it was a musical, so he was singing and dancing as well as acting. That shit is hard. That experience and grind stays with you forever.

It was always obvious he trained for live performance and had massive experience in it, even after he became an adult movie star. He did a live performance on the show Lip Sync Battle that went viral, and watching that, it was obvious to me this guy was still extremely confident in live performance/movement and used to it. It never left him. Guy was out there moving like he was Fred Astaire. Extremely polished and skilled.  I always expected him to do stage again. So no, it's not a risk from the perspective of him being stage novice, because he isn't. Too much experience and comfort level. That particular risk factor applied to someone like Scarlett Johansson, who had never done any sort of professional stage, before making the leap to Broadway.

Any stage show is a risk, so that's not to say Holland isn't taking one in going back on the boards. But it's stupid, imho, to deny that he's a very, very experienced stage performer. There's less of a worry thinking it's just stunt casting of a film actor that could go badly wrong, because he has no idea of the mechanics and grind of stage acting. Because he does, and then some.

Good idea if he can pull it off. Reinvigorate those acting bona fides, get some distance from Hollywood.