"I never imagined I would talk about it on live television, but here we are," the "Spider-Man" and "The Odyssey" star tells "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon
Alex Welch


Tom Holland appears as a guest on the July 13, 2026 edition of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (Credit: NBC)

Tom Holland divulged to "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon Monday night that his Instagram DM to Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland was ignored by the athlete, joking, "I never imagined I would talk about it on live television."

"Yes, yes [I messaged him]," Holland confessed. "And I tell you what, that is exactly the type of humbling experience that is important for actors. You know, you're like, 'I'll text him, I'll take him to dinner.'"

Holland said he got "not even a response, not an excuse, not 'I'm busy tonight, I'm playing football,' nada." The "Spider-Man" and "The Odyssey" star went on to note that he messaged Haaland after seeing him in-person at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix in June.

"I was watching Lewis [Hamilton] race, and I saw [Haaland]," Holland told Fallon. "He was [in] a hospitality suite across from me, and I just thought I'd shoot my shot. Send him a text."

"I never imagined I would talk about it on live television, but here we are," he jokingly noted. You can watch Holland's full "Tonight Show" conversation with Fallon yourself in the video below.

While Fallon suggested that Holland may benefit from reaching out to Haaland again, the "Spider-Man" actor joked that he did not think the soccer star would say "yes" after England, Holland's favorite football team, recently beat Norway to move forward to this year's FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

"I don't think he would have dinner with me after [what happened] the other day," Holland said, to which Fallon responded, "Yeah. He's probably hurting a little bit." Holland went on to say that he is still a fan of Haaland, calling him "incredible" and "an absolute legend."

In a recent interview with Norwegian talk show "A-laget," Haaland acknowledged his unintentional diss of Holland, calling it "embarrassing."

"I don't watch movies much, so I have no idea who people are," the Norwegian soccer player explained. "There was one asking if we could go out for dinner, but I'd never seen him, so I didn't bother to answer. I didn't want to answer an unknown person."

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