Planet Normal...

Why Tom is going to be just fine

A whistlestop trip to LA for the world premiere of Spider-Man, Brand New Day and then, just a day later, back in time for one final hurrah… in the town I grew up in and where we raised our family.

Quite the week, then, for Nikki and me, with some firsts, including travel options that are not normally available to us. This luxury made it more agreeable, but during the London screening, as my sleep-deprived headache arrived, I wondered how Tom and Zendaya have coped with their worldwide tour and what is demanded of them by their paymasters and fans alike.

At the London event, Tom was told, with no notice, that he had to make a speech to a packed Leicester Square Odeon, with 3000 expectant people.

The anticipation and expectations for this movie, compounded by the 6-year wait, have put extreme pressure on the people charged with delivering it, namely the director, his cast and crew, but particularly so on Tom in the title role.

In such circumstances, Tom could easily have swerved such a speech at this final premiere, but dutifully, he took to the stage. Given the occasion plus his fatigue and running on fumes, it didn’t surprise me that he became emotional; I watched on with admiration and pride.

I enjoy these occasions, of course, but my enjoyment comes with caveats.

They are all the same, and everything is largely on repeat...

The adulation, the mania and affirmations, but not just for Tom but for his mum and dad also.

“…what does it feel like?”

We are constantly asked.

Answer: Although we have become used to Tom’s unusual life, it is never going to feel normal.

“You must be so proud…”

Answer: Yes, of course. We are immensely proud.

Just like the next person, we are also excited and seduced by fame and celebrity. But it is tiring, too, and I quickly grow weary of the same snatched conversations and refrains.

That said, I never tire of hearing that Tom remains so grounded (normal), which is remarkable given the amount of time he has spent in Los Angeles.

My brief experience of Hollywood this week suggests it is a place like no other. A place without limits, where anything and everything goes. No boundaries. Normal for LA is not normal anywhere else, and a good proportion of LA people I observed appear to be lost and or rudderless.

And on ‘normal’, a quick nod to Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Brand New Day. A man who is completely un-Hollywood, and as such, he is a great person to have such a bearing and influence on my son, Tom.

As I write this, the movie’s notices are in – Destin’s debut superhero film is a smash, and no doubt, the numbers will back this up and his stock will rise even further.

And yet, I am confident that Destin will remain unchanged, and I can demonstrate my thinking with two incidents from the post-premiere party last evening…

At the salubrious Raffles Hotel with champagne on tap (and Bero), the atmosphere was frenetic and celebratory. Spider-Man might star Tom Holland, but it is Destin’s film, and everyone at the party wanted his ear…

And yet I observed him chatting for at least 15 minutes with these two guys.

Not Hollywood agents, producers or lawyers who were all present and presumably waiting in line…

But my brother-in-law, Tim and my nephew James. Both film geeks who I can’t imagine other Hollywood luminaries deigning to give them much more than a cursory handshake.

And now, I need to mention Eclipsed, but with good reason and not just a plug.

Quite often, people bring my books to events like gigs. To have them signed and/or have a selfie with book in hand.

Occasionally this happens at a premiere but never at the after-party – by someone within the ropes, so although I was delighted, it took me by surprise also.

With the noise of the party, plus jet lag, I couldn’t get a good handle on who this lady was or much of what she was saying. I gleaned that her name was Cathy, and with a ‘C’, for signing purposes…

Then she mentioned Nikki, and I became even more confused.

It turned out that she was Destin’s mother-in-law. The mother of his lovely English wife, Nikki and granny to their three children.

Most likely she came across the book via the internet. But of the millions of eyeballs that Tom generates, only a tiny proportion will drill down to find his old man, and only a sliver of these will be sufficiently interested to click BUY.

That ‘Grandma Cathy’ was one of these few and then had brought along her copy speaks volumes, I feel. It is a sign that this is a normal family, just like my own, and one that is unlikely to be blown off course by the showbiz hyperbole that will now surround them. I hope she enjoys the book of how Tom got to where he is now. A remarkable fluke and much hard work.

And finally, and continuing on in this normal vein…

In the car on the way home from the event with the exhausted couple, plus Nikki and Paddy, the main topic of conversation was not Spider-Man…

But their dogs; how much they had missed them and how keen they were to be reunited.

For a young couple like them, with their fame, acclaim, and all the accompanying trappings, the most heartening moment of my whole day was seeing them barge through their front door to cuddle their dogs.

It struck me as very normal and how normal they remain and that they have every chance of a normal life in their not-so-normal world.

I hope so, anyway.

Because, Normal is where it’s at.

Eclipsed is available to buy in audio or print here.

Normal people doing not normal things.