When Tom Holland Went Undercover at a Bronx High School to Prepare for Spider-Man
How Tom Holland Secretly Lived as “Ben Perkins” in a Bronx School to Nail His Peter Parker Role (Photo Credit – Instagram)

When Tom Holland signed on the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he didn’t just flip through comics or watch classic Spidey films. Instead, the British actor threw on a backpack, put on a fake American accent, and slipped into Bronx High School of Science as “Ben Perkins.”

For three days, he lived the life of an ordinary science student, all in an effort to nail the genuine awkwardness and nerdy vibe of Peter Parker’s world.

“The coolest thing I think I did for the movie was I was enrolled in a high school in New York, in the Bronx, as a secret. No one knew who I was or what I was doing. I had a fake name and a fake accent,” Holland later revealed in a Teen Vogue interview.

Tom Holland’s Immersive Prep In A Real Science School for Authentic Peter Parker

It all started like a joke. Tom Holland once casually tossed out a suggestion to Marvel: “why not just drop me into a real American high school?” Instead of laughing it off, Marvel went with the idea and sent him straight into Bronx Science, one of the city’s top STEM-focused schools.

Disguised with the name “Ben Perkins,” Holland tried to disappear into the crowd. Teachers introduced him to class as a new kid. Classmates accepted the story without suspicion, even his accent passed unnoticed. He was just another transfer swamped with too many math problems on his plate. A few teachers even called him to class and asked him questions in class as though he’d been there for months.

Most interestingly, the more our web-slinging Spidey actor tried to drop hints at what his real identity is, the less anyone bought him. “I told one kid at the school, I was like, ‘Hey man, I’m actually Spider-Man.’ He did not believe me,” Holland recalled.

The disbelief was unanimous. As one sophomore later summed the mood up, “Most of them wouldn’t believe him at all. Because that just doesn’t make sense, right?” That was exactly what Marvel wanted – the authentic teenage reactions, brushing off the idea of an awkward new guy could actually be a superhero. Even the teachers were fooled.

Looking back, the entire undercover trip was straight out of a movie. Just as Peter Parker hides who he really is from friends and classmates, Holland pulled off the same trick in real life. The now 29-year-old’s time at Bronx Science School may have started as a bold Marvel experiment, but it paid off. The undercover stint allowed him to capture the perfect blend of humor and sincerity for the Spider-Man character. And now? Everything else is history!

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