One’s the talk of tinsel town, a tentpole franchise movie star with an A-list Hollywood girlfriend and perfect tousled hair.
The other’s an aging thespian who counts ‘peeing in the dark’ and ‘masturbating on rainy days’ as staples of his routine.
We are talking of course about Tom Holland, 27, (best known for Spiderman) and Tom Hollander, 56, (forever immortalised as the pragmatic and sensitive Cutler Becket in the Pirates of the Caribbean films).
The two stars live lives that are world’s apart but are forever bonded by their names, which aside from a rogue ‘er’ are identical and led to Hollander once receiving Holland’s Avengers pay slip by mistake, a final indignation of sorts.
The White Lotus actor admitted that nearly identical spellings of their names led to the unfortunate mix up, though he joked that people only confused him for Holland in a ‘nonvisual context.’
One’s the talk of tinsel town, a tentpole franchise movie star with an A-list Hollywood girlfriend and perfect tousled hair and the other’s an aging thespian who counts ‘peeing in the dark’ and ‘masturbating on rainy days’ as staples of his routine
Tom Hollander, 56, (left) and Tom Holland, 27, (right) are forever bonded by their names, which aside from a rogue ‘er’ are identical
Speaking on Wednesday’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, Hollander admitted it was ‘very difficult’ to get mistaken for Tom Holland
Speaking on Wednesday’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, Hollander admitted it was ‘very difficult’ to get mistaken for Tom Holland — who is 29 years younger than him — because he ‘was here first.’
He admitted to marveling at how enormous Holland’s pay slip was, despite being only a small portion of his Avengers compensation.
Hollander explained that the mixup with the pay slip occurred during a period when both actors were ‘briefly’ represented by the same talent agency.
The In The Loop star was initially flying high after he went to see a friend who was performing in a Chekhov play for only about £300 per week.
He was gloating at his seemingly superior position, as he had just received a paycheck for ’30 grand’ for starring in a BBC production.
He planned to ‘slightly patronise’ his friend when they met up later, but he was distracted when he checked his emails at intermission and saw one from the agency advising him on his ‘first box office bonus for The Avengers.’
‘And I thought, “I don’t think I’m in the Avengers,”‘ he recalled to laughter from the studio audience.
Hollander added that it was ‘an astonishing amount of money.’
Tom Holland is in a relationship with his Spiderman co-star Zendaya
Tom Hollander is engaged to his fiancé Fran Hickman (pictured together)
But he clarified that the pay slip wasn’t for the Spider-Man star’s salary, but only for his ‘first box office bonus.’
He hilariously revealed: ‘Not the whole box office. The first one,’ he emphasized comically. And it was more money than I’ve ever — it was a seven-figure sum!’
Meyers jumped in to joke that the sum was so large that ‘they had to send it in two emails.’
Hollander added bitterly that the superhero star was only ’20 or something’ at the time.
‘So, my feeling of smugness that you remember I had in the first half [of the play] disappeared very quickly,’ he said with a deadpan expression.
‘But that’s showbiz,’ he added.
Although Hollander isn’t as well known as Tom Holland, he has appeared in several major films, including the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice, and he played Lord Cutler Beckett in the massively popular Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise.
He also had acclaimed roles in Gosford Park, In The Loop, The Night Manager and the second season of The White Lotus.
In 2020, the actor went viral after his self-effacing take on a day in the life piece for the Sunday Times.
Tom Hollander was immortalised as as the pragmatic and sensitive Cutler Becket in the Pirates of the Caribbean films
Tom Holland’s most famous role is that of Spiderman in Marvel’s Avengers films
Although he’s not as famous as Tom Holland, Hollander has appeared in the enormously popular Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise and season two of The White Lotus, and he has a bevy of other acclaimed roles under his belt; pictured Tuesday in NYC
Tom Hollander’s ‘life in the day’ article went viral as he discussed peeing in the dark, sleeping pills and masturbation
While legions of celebrities have written for the weekly feature and kept things fairly tame, Hollander was lauded by fans for discussing peeing in the dark, sleeping pills and masturbation.
He wrote: ‘I wake up generally at 3 or 4am. Not because I’m like Margaret Thatcher, but because I need to pee.
‘I pee in the darkness using my phone screen to illuminate the target, then often take half a sleeping pill (antihistamine), turn on the World Service very quietly and try to go to sleep.’
After discussing holding his girlfriend in different positions, or the pillow if she is absent, he examined his bald patch, weighs himself and pulls his stomach in.
And if that wasn’t enough of an insight, he pens: ‘If it’s sunny I might go for a cycle ride down the canal, if it’s raining I might masturbate or doze.’
Hollander’s next major project is the second season of FX’s acclaimed series Feud, which was created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam.
In the new season, subtitled Capote vs. The Swans, he stars as the eponymous writer Truman Capote.
The show traces his friendships with several New York City– based socialites who later vowed to make his life miserable after he wrote thinly veiled and often unflattering portraits of them in his unfinished novel Answered Prayers, which was published posthumously in 1986, two years after Capote’s death.
Capote began writing the novel in the late 1960s, and he eventually published four excerpted chapters to Esquire in the mid-’70s, though he was believed to have given up on the long-gestating project later that decade.
Do you mean the other Brian Cox?The stars with the same name!
Brian Cox (actor) and Prof Brian Cox (physicist)
Scottish actor Brian Cox, 77, and physicist Brian Cox, 55, have had numerous run ins in the past over their names.
In 2022, they appeared on BBC Breakfast together and revealed that their identical names can lead to some awkward moments.
Actor Brian, best known for playing billionaire media mogul Logan Roy in Sky’s hit drama Succession for four years, said: ‘Last night was very confusing when he arrived to the hotel and said there was two Brian Cox’s so they said you’ve got two rooms.
‘He said, no I think there’s two Brian Cox’s and the hotel said we can’t have two Brian Coxes’
Meet-up: Succession’s Brian Cox and Professor Brian Cox came face to face for the first time on Friday morning which caused some confusion
Chris Evans (radio DJ) and Chris Evans (actor)
Radio DJ Chris Evans, 57, shares the same name as Hollywood megastar Chris Evans, 42, who famously played Captain America.
Evans has been a fixture on UK radios for decades and Evans’ star has exploded in recent years with his role in the Avengers franchise.
Luckily the pair are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, look nothing alike and work in fundamentally different jobs – meaning mix ups are rare.
Radio DJ Chris Evans, 57, (left) shares the same name as Hollywood megastar Chris Evans, 42, (right) who famously played Captain America
Michelle Williams (singer) and Michelle Williams (actor)
Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams, 44, and actress Michelle Williams, 43, have famously been mistaken for one another countless times.
In 2019, actress Michelle Williams gave an impassioned Emmy acceptance speech which led to her name sake being called out online.
The singer took to Instagram Live to set the record straight
She exclaimed: ‘How come when y’all are tagging and congratulating a person, do y’all see that I’m black?
‘When you go to my profile, you search for the “Michelle Williams,” I am black. OK? I ain’t mixed with nothing, I ain’t mixed with Persian, Russian, I am black.’
Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams, 44, (right) and actress Michelle Williams, 43, (left) have famously been mistaken for one another countless times