Tom HollandThroughout his time playing Spider-Man, Tom Holland has hit all kinds of showbiz milestones, from glossy magazine covers and creating viral moments to, most recently, marrying someone just as A-list as he is.
But one thing he’s never done is host Saturday Night Live on either side of the Atlantic.
However, it turns out there’s a good reason for this.
Speaking to SNL legend Amy Poehler on her podcast Good Hang, Tom pointed out that he’s “heavily dyslexic”, and wouldn’t feel comfortable appearing on the live sketch comedy because so much of it is read from cue cards held off-camera by members of the production.
“I’m heavily dyslexic, which is one of the reasons why – and I’d love to talk to you today about it, actually – I’ve never done SNL,” he explained, to which Amy agreed that “many dyslexics” have said the same thing in the past.
Tom continued: “I’m just so petrified at the concept of, like, trying to read something and they change.
“I can read fine. But when I have to read out loud, it just becomes, a kind of… it’s like a mental block, and I can freeze.”
He added: “I’ve been really lucky that they’ve asked me a few times to do it, and the truth is that I’m actually just really scared at the prospect.
“I love the show, and I love the idea of having fun and making a fool of yourself in such a fun, creative way. It’s just that thing of the cue cards.”
He also shared that his dyslexia also causes issues when doing read-throughs in the early stages of his film projects.
“My worst day at work is the read-through,” he shared. “At the read-through, I will really try and highlight everything and learn my lines ahead of time, so that I’m more kind of skimming it than I am reading.”
Tom is in good company, though, as his Marvel colleague Mark Ruffalo turned down hosting SNL for the same reason.
“It just scared the living shit out of me,” he told the podcast WTF With Marc Maron in 2024. “It scares me. I’m dyslexic. I’m not gonna lie.”
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