The Screen Actors Guild prevents two actors from claiming the same name, for obvious reasons; that’s why, for instance, we know Emily Stone as Emma Stone. Actors with very similar names don’t have that issue—though as veteran performer Tom Hollander has revealed, that can still lead to confusion.
Hollander—whose many credits include The King’s Man, Bird Box, Bohemian Rhapsody, Muppets Most Wanted, Hanna, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pride & Prejudice, Gosford Park, The Night Manager, and The White Lotus—will next be seen in Ryan Murphy’s FX series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, in which he stars as Truman Capote. But for all of Hollander’s accolades and appearances, he’s not nearly as famous as a certain younger actor, another Brit with a very similar name: the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man, Tom Holland.
This has led to some funny mix-ups for the two, at least on paper—“in non-visual contexts I am mistaken for him all the time,” Hollander said on Late Night With Seth Myers this week, drolly recounting how utility companies and children of acquaintances have been disappointed when they realise they’re meeting not Holland, but Hollander. But one incident in particular stands out: it seems Hollander was accidentally sent Holland’s hefty bonus for an Avengers movie’s box-office success, during a time when the pair shared the same agency. Speaking to Meyers, Hollander jokingly recalled the “terrible moment” he realised the accounting blunder. “I got an email from the agency saying, ‘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.”
Once he saw the bonus itself, Hollander realised what a literally huge mistake it was. “It was an astonishing amount of money. 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—it was a seven-figure sum … and he was 20 or something,” he chuckled. “But that’s show biz!”
You can watch the full interview with Hollander, who is delightful, below.
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