Tom Holland turns down SNL host role due to cue card fears

• Holland has been asked several times to host SNL but always declined
• His dyslexia makes reading from cue cards a source of significant anxiety for him
• The actor says script read-throughs are consistently his worst days on set
  

Tom Holland may be no stranger to high-pressure sets, but there is one gig the Spider-Man: Brand New Day star insists he is simply not ready to take on — hosting Saturday Night Live.

Holland opens up about dyslexia on the Good Hang podcast

Speaking on the Good Hang podcast, Holland revealed that he has declined multiple invitations to front the NBC sketch comedy institution, and that his dyslexia lies at the heart of his reluctance.

"I'm heavily dyslexic, which is one of the reasons why—and I'd love to talk to you today about it, actually—is why I've never done SNL," Holland said.

"I'm just so petrified at the concept of, like, trying to read something and they change."

Podcast host Amy Poehler suggested that plenty of dyslexic performers had likely taken to the SNL stage across the show's 51-season run, but Holland was candid about the particular challenge it poses for him personally.

"It's just that, for me, I can read fine. But when I have to read out loud, it just becomes, a kind of… it's like a mental block, and I can freeze."

Read-throughs remain Holland's toughest days on set

The actor went on to describe how the same issue affects him on conventional film and television productions, revealing that script read-throughs are the part of the job he dreads most.

"So, for me, my worst day at work is the read-through. At the read-through, I will really try and highlight everything and learn my lines ahead of time, so that I'm more kind of skimming it than I am reading."

Despite his reservations, Holland was clear that his feelings towards SNL itself remain warm — it is the mechanics of the format, not the show, that hold him back.

"I've been really lucky that they've asked me a few times to do it, and the truth is that I'm actually just really scared at the prospect—I love the show, and I love the idea of having fun and making a fool of yourself in such a fun, creative way. It's just that thing of the cue cards," added Holland.

Poehler offers a characteristically candid reassurance

Poehler, a two-time Golden Globe winner who was a cast member on SNL from 2001 to 2008, met Holland's concerns with a wry observation of her own.

"You have to remember, there have been people that have hosted who have been fully on drugs, so I think you can do it," she noted.