Actor surprised after mistakenly receiving Tom Holland's 7-figure 'Avengers' paycheck after name mix-up
In the latest Spiderman film, Peter Parker asked Dr Strange to make everyone forget his real identity. It seems that the effect of the spell may have spilled over to the real world. Spiderman actor, Tom Holland's agency once mistook his name and sent his mega 7-figure-paycheck to another actor, Tom Hollander. The mix-up seems to be an honest one as Hollander, a fellow British actor with credits including "The White Lotus", "Bohemian Rhapsody," worked with the same acting agency as Tom Holland.
Surprised and humbled by the big paycheck
Hollander shared the story on an episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers. Calling it a humbling experience, the 56-year-old actor shared the details with the host. He said that he was at a theater in England to see one of his friends who was doing a play for 300 pounds a week.
The actor added that he sat in the audience smugly, as he had just done a BBC show for a handsome 30 grand. "I was thinking, 'Well this is marvelous. I'm very prosperous, but my good friend Peter is doing this great play and I'm going to go afterward and see him and slightly patronize him and say how wonderful it was,'" he told the host.
However, a thundering surprise humbled Hollander when checked his phone during the intermission. As he went through his emails, he came across one from his acting agency that said, "Payment advice slip: Your first box office bonus for The Avengers,'" Hollander said. "And I thought, 'I don't think I'm in The Avengers,'" he added.
While Hollander realized it was a mix-up, he was shocked by the astonishing amount of money. Without revealing the amount, Hollander said it was a seven-figure sum and it wasn't even Holland's salary.
"And it was not his salary, it was his first box office bonus. Not the whole box office, the first one. And it was more money than I've ever [seen]," Hollander said. He told the host that the feeling of smugness that he had while watching the play, quickly disappeared after looking at the young actor's pay.
Holland starred in both “Avengers: Infinity War” as well as “Avengers: Endgame”, which were mega-global hits with a combined box office collection of nearly $5 billion, as per CNBC.
While Hollander was shocked, he remarked that this is how it goes in the show business.“It’s up, it’s down. It’s hero, it’s zero," he said.
Hollander also shared that it has been "very difficult" sharing a name with Holland as his popularity skyrocketed. Hollander said people very commonly mistake him for the Spiderman actor, and are then left disappointed. “I’m introduced to somebody’s very very excited, then confused, then disappointed, ” Hollander said.
Turns out, Hollander isn't the only famous personality in show business who got mistaken for the Spiderman actor. Director of "Child's Play", Tom Holland has also been through the same treatment in the past. Following the release of "Spider-Man: Far From Home" the director shared that he was flooded with tweets about the film on X (formerly Twitter).
Ahead of the release of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" Holland posted that he was bracing for the slew of tags he is going to get for the movie.