In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Holland has spoken about his most famous work — and no, it’s not Spider-Man.
Of course, he’s referring to his infamous “Umbrella” Lip Sync Battle. The most important day in modern history. The ultimate serotonin boost. The epitome of all things good in the world.
If you’ve been living under a rock, Holland appeared on Lip Sync Battle back in May 2017 — a show where celebs went head-to-head against each other in a lip sync competition.
Holland, who was versing his now-girlfriend Zendaya, kicked off his routine by mimicking a “Singin’ In The Rain” performance.
But then the music for Rihanna‘s “Umbrella” kicked in and Holland emerged in a black corset, fishnet stockings, red lipstick, and a black bob wig. He proceeded to absolutely annihilate the whole damn thing.
Just do yourself a favour and watch the video (or in my case, re-watch it for at least the 200th time):
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Holland reflected on his now iconic performance after six years.
“I’m proud of it,” he said. “I like that it left a lasting impact. It was an amazing time.“
Holland also denied that the whole thing was him making a statement about toxic masculinity, saying he didn’t even realise that what he was doing was forward-thinking.
“I don’t give a fuck. I’ve grown up in the most non-toxic-masculine environment possible. I didn’t realise 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.’”
Now that? That’s king shit.
But Holland naturally has some mixed feelings about his most popular work not being one of his movies — y’know, the thing that he dedicates his whole life to.
“You’d never catch me doing that now. Just because 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.
“It is an interesting one, because 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.
“For all the movies that I’m incredibly proud of, the Lip Sync Battle is what I get the most compliments for.”
“While it must feel pretty shitty to have a lip sync as the first thing people praise you for the most, when you have a huge MFing catalogue of top-tier movies, it should also be said that the serotonin and the happiness that the “Umbrella” Lip Sync Battle gives you is unrivalled.
Just take a couple of comments on the YouTube video for instance.
“In my own personal record book, Tom Holland was awarded six Oscars, four Grammys and two Tonys for this performance,” one person wrote.
Another said: “The craziest part is that he was informed on such a short notice that he would do the show instead of somebody else… and he still managed to learn the choreography in a couple of hours! It is so wonderful to watch him dance. He has so much talent.”
So yes, on one hand, I understand that we as a society need to collectively move on from the “Umbrella” moment.
But at the same time, shit in the world is dark enough already — and videos and moments like these offer us tiny glimpses of hope and happiness in the abyss that is life. Surely we deserve just one more Lip Sync Battle.
