Even before cameras started rolling, the Fred Astaire biopic had found itself at the center of an unexpected generational debate. Nearly five years after being announced as the star of Sony’s upcoming film directed by Paul King, Tom Holland admitted in an interview with Esquire UK that he is nervous about how audiences will respond. His reason? According to the actor, much of Generation Z simply has no idea who Fred Astaire was.

The concern is understandable. After all, Astaire belongs to a Hollywood era that feels far removed from audiences born decades after the golden age of movie musicals. The actor, singer, and dancer, who died in 1987 at the age of 88, built a career spanning more than seven decades and starred in some of the most beloved musicals ever made, many of them alongside Ginger Rogers. Yet for viewers born in the 21st century, his name may not carry the same recognition as Spider-Man.

Ironically, when Sony first announced the project in December 2021, Holland seemed like the perfect choice. Discovered on stage in Billy Elliot, where he spent two years performing in London’s West End, the British actor trained in ballet, tap dancing, and gymnastics. His dancing skills reached audiences far beyond the theater world when his performance of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” on Lip Sync Battle went viral in 2017.

At the time, the project seemed to bring together two artists separated by nearly a century, yet united by the same blend of grace, precision, and charisma. In terms of physicality, movement, and musical experience, Holland seemed uniquely suited to portray one of the greatest dancers in film history.

What has changed since then is simply an inevitable reality: no generation is born knowing who Fred Astaire is, and perhaps that is precisely why the film deserves to exist.

When Astaire first arrived in Hollywood in the 1930s, an early screen test reportedly assessed his prospects rather harshly: “Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” The remark has since become one of the industry’s most famous anecdotes. Over the following decades, he would star in more than 30 musicals and eventually be ranked by the American Film Institute as the fifth-greatest male star in American cinema history.

But Astaire’s influence was never limited to the people who watched him dance for the first time. Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Michael Jackson all grew up admiring his work despite being born years after his earliest successes. Tom Holland himself belongs to a generation far removed from the black-and-white Hollywood era, and yet he found one of his greatest passions through dance.

Paul King’s film, from the director behind the Paddington movies, is expected to focus not only on Fred Astaire’s rise to fame but also on his relationship with his sister and early dance partner, Adele Astaire. Production is scheduled to begin in January 2027.

Tom Holland may be right that many members of Generation Z have never heard of Fred Astaire. But that has never been a reason not to tell a story.

Quite the opposite.

That is how legends survive.