The Oscars will have a host for the first time since 2019. And while we don’t know who yet, it probably won’t be Spider-Man: No Way Home star Tom Holland. And yes, that probably wasn’t your prediction, but it got closer to happening than you would have guessed.
The Academy reportedly contacted The Impossible star to explore the possibility of him hosting the Oscars after he had expressed an interest in doing so, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
When presented with the idea, Holland seemed game, but understandably his calendar is pretty booked up for the year.
Maybe in the future, but in all honesty, I’m just too busy right now. I don’t have the time. I’ve got an Uncharted press tour to do, and then I start shooting in early March for this TV show [Apple TV+’s The Crowded Room] which is going to take up a lot of my time and is definitely the hardest role I’ve ever taken on. So maybe one day in the future. But no, not right now. And you know I would love to do that — I love that kind of thing, I love being put under pressure and doing things that I feel uncomfortable doing. So I’m interested in it, but I just don’t have the time.
So Holland is out for 2022, but hey, maybe Tobey Maguire is available.
It’s up in the air as to how many people will tune in to watch the award show this year since the still-ongoing coronavirus pandemic may just hamper people’s interest in watching it, as had apparently been the case last year with its much lower-than-usual 10.4 million views.
When Kimmel last hosted the Oscars in 2018, 26.62 million people tuned in. Then in 2019, when the ceremony went sans-host, the viewership was actually higher, at 29.56 million. It went down from there in 2020 to 23.64 million, though the ceremony was held in February, immediately prior to widespread pandemic-inspired shutdowns in most of the country.
We’ve no doubt Holland would probably make an excellent host since he has a lot of experience both on screen and stage. The actor made his first big break in show business as a child star, singing and dancing in the Billy Elliot musical on London’s West End.
