Tom Holland has revealed that his father tried to stop him from performing Rihanna’s “Umbrella” on the US TV show Lip Sync Battle as he believed it could “ruin his life”.
Holland’s 2017 appearance on the series, in which celebrities lip sync along to famous hits, saw him recreate “Umbrella” while dressed in a bob wig and latex shorts.
The clip, which coincided with the release of Holland’s first Spider-Man movie Homecoming, helped skyrocket the actor to fame. It has since been viewed on YouTube more than 75 million times.
But the British star has now said that his father, the writer and comedian Dominic Holland, did everything to try and stop the performance happening.
Speaking to British GQ, Holland recalled that his father called him and his agents in the hopes of having his Lip Sync Battle appearance halted, as he was concerned it would destroy his career.
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“Look, I am really glad I did that show and I had a lot of fun,” Holland explained. “It was incredibly stressful. It has been incredibly successful and has been a really great thing for my career. But my dad always taught me when I was younger and coming up in the business that you want to get famous as slowly as possible.
“You don’t want to get super famous tomorrow, because you won’t be able to handle it. It will ruin your life. I am very selective of who I talk to and what I do. I don’t ever want to overexpose myself, because my privacy is the last thing I own. I think that’s why he was so worried.”
Holland said that he believes his father would tell him, even today, to “pace” himself when it comes to his career, adding: “I don’t want to lose myself to all... this.”
Holland, who portrays a heroin addict in the new drama Cherry, also revealed that he got “very sick” while preparing to play the role.
