Before Tom Holland was web-slinging around the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Spider-Man, he was a subject of King Henry VIII in an acclaimed BBC historical drama. One year before his debut as Peter Parker, Holland played Gregory Cromwell in the limited series “Wolf Hall.”
The series, an adaptation of the book by author Hilary Mantel, first aired on BBC Two and PBS in 2015. Mark Rylance starred as Thomas Cromwell, the English statesman who gained power and influence as Henry VIII’s chief minister. Damian Lewis played the king, while Claire Foy was Anne Boleyn. Holland, whose acting career was just starting to take off after playing Billy Elliot on the West End, appeared as Cromwell’s son.
Though a relatively minor character who spends much of his time studying at Cambridge rather than attending court, Gregory has several scenes with his father in the show, giving the teenaged Holland a chance to act opposite Rylance. Even today, though, “Wolf Hall” — which won a Peabody and garnered eight Emmy nominations – is one of Holland’s only TV credits. His only other outings on the small screen are a poorly reviewed 2013 Apple TV series called “The Crowded Room” and an extremely memorable appearance on “Lip Sync Battle” in 2017.
An actor who nearly got the Spider-Man part replaced Tom Holland for the Wolf Hall sequel
Tom Holland first appeared as Spider-Man in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War.” Since then, he’s played the superhero a half dozen more times, becoming a major star in the process. Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that he didn’t reprise his role as Gregory Cromwell in the sequel series “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light,” which aired on the BBC in 2024 and hit PBS the following year. Another actor, Charlie Rowe, took over the part.
Rowe, whose credits include “Never Let Me Go,” “Rocketman,” and “Slow Horses,” even replaced Holland in a flashback scene. To maintain continuity between actors in “The Mirror and the Light,” the show retooled certain shots in a sequence where Gregory and his father observe the execution of Anne Boleyn so that it was Rowe, not Holland, speaking with Mark Rylance.
Interestingly, this isn’t the only role that connects Holland and Rowe. In 2015, the two then-19-year-old British actors were both contenders to play Spider-Man. Asa Butterfield, star of “Hugo” and “Ender’s Game,” was another one of the frontrunners, but, of course, Holland ultimately got the gig.
