Hundreds of fans gathered around the Parkman Bandstand in the Boston Common Sunday afternoon for a Tom Holland lookalike contest.
Around 10 Tom Holland doppelgangers competed for the low-stakes prize of $50 and a bag of British candy. The contest, however, was more than just finding a Holland lookalike. For some who attended, it was a search for love. As contestants were being introduced, some in the crowd shouted on multiple occasions asking if they were single. “Looking 4 my short king (exceptions will be made 4 tall kings),” one sign read.
The event, which lasted for an hour, was organized by Dilce Elisa and Katherine Gehring.
“In a time when online dating prospects seem more dismal than ever, we have been forced to take extreme measures,” states the event description. Those extreme measures, according to Elisa and Gehring, were a lookalike contest to “give the ladies something to yearn for this holiday season.”
Organizers introduced each contestant to the crowd one by one, followed by each contestant giving their best Holland impression, Spiderman pose, and dance moves. The winners were decided by how loud the crowd was for each contestant.
Nick Anderson, 26, from Melrose, Mass., took home first place. “I’m not typically a crowd guy, so it definitely was a little bit of a foreign experience, but it definitely felt good,” he said in an interview with reporters after the event.
Many hoped Holland himself would make an appearance after he replied, “Really tempted to enter this,” to a post about the event on X, but he did not.
Michael Carroll is a 17-year-old senior at BC High School and placed second in the contest. “I originally just came because I thought maybe Holland himself would show up,” Carroll said.
Sunday’s event was the latest in a trend of lookalike contests popping up in cities around the world. The trend began after clips surfaced of Timothée Chalamet showing up to his own lookalike contest in New York City last month, which garnered significant media attention and went viral on social media.
In Chicago, there was a Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest, a Paul Mescal lookalike contest in Dublin, a Dev Patel lookalike contest in San Francisco, and a Harry Styles lookalike contest in London.
Holland has been spotted recently with Zendaya in Boston multiple times in the last few months filming for the upcoming movie “The Drama.”
Organizers knew Holland was in town and decided to take the opportunity. The event description went on to say, “We see no better place to pay homage to our beloved (and inarguably the best) Spider-Man than the Cradle of Liberty itself, the birthplace of the American Revolution, the cherished home of short, hot-headed, and sports-loving kings, our very own city of Boston.”
According to another post on social media, there will be a John F. Kennedy lookalike contest on Dec. 8 in the Boston Common.
