Tom Holland Has His Dance Partners for Fred Astaire Biopic

Everything Tom Holland does in the upcoming Fred Astaire biopic, Sabrina Carpenter will have to do backwards and in heels. Carpenter has been announced as Ginger Rogers in the new film from Paddington and Wonka’s Paul King. Margaret Qualley has also joined the project, to play Fred’s sister/vaudeville partner Adele Astaire. “I am thrilled and honored to have been entrusted with telling the story of Fred Astaire and his original dance partner — his big sister Adele — to the big screen,” King said in a statement obtained by Deadline.

The announcement also gives a little more scope and focus to what part of Astaire’s life the film will concern. “Fred left a timeless legacy of dance on film, most famously in his collaborations with Ginger Rogers, while Adele’s work has been lost to history; indeed, no footage of her dancing survives,” King said. “The cinematic challenge of bringing to life these icons of the 20th century is one that I could not imagine without Tom Holland, Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter by my side.” Sounds like the film will center on Fred making the transition to film, while Adele married Lord Charles Cavendish and retired from show life altogether. No word yet on which British hunk will play Cavendish, but the real location of their wedding is the frequently-filmed Chatsworth House. So that’s one location scout already done.

Holland has been relearning to dance for the film. “One of my biggest regrets in my career is after I finished Billy Elliot, I quit dancing,” he said earlier this year. The film was announced in 2021, so that’s probably enough time to take up tap and perform on a professional level, right? It’s not like Holland has been busy doing anything else.