Tom Holland Ditches His Signature Curls for a New Shorter Hairstyle Ahead of Romeo & Juliet Role in London

Tom Holland is rocking a short ‘do.

The 27-year-old English actor was spotted arriving at a theater in London with a new, much shorter style. In contrast to his usual longer, slightly shaggy curls, Holland’s hair is buzzed on the sides and a bit longer on the top.

The new hairstyle is presumably for his role as Romeo in the stage production of William Shakespeare’s tragic romance Romeo & Juliet on London’s West End. The play opens on Sunday, May 11, and will have a limited, 12-week run at Duke of York’s Theatre.

Holland’s latest stage role was announced in February 2024, with a tagline for the show reading: “Violent delights have violent ends.”

According to the official website, the production is described as director “Jamie Lloyd’s pulsating new vision of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of wordsmiths, rhymers, lovers and fighters.”

“Tom Holland is one of the greatest, most exciting young actors in the world. It is an honor to welcome him back to the West End,” said director Lloyd in a statement shared by Playbill.

The project also marks Holland’s return to the stage. He previously performed as the title role in the West End production of Billy Elliot The Musical in 2008 at age 12.

The Spider-Man star may be overseas working on Romeo and Juliet, but he still had time to gush over his girlfriend, Zendaya, 27, when she shut down the red carpet at the Monday, May 6, Met Gala in New York City.

On Tuesday, May 7, the actor shared an Instagram post shouting out two out of her three stunning looks of the evening: an intricate blue and green gown by Maison Margiela’s John Galliano and a black off-the-shoulder corset gown with a long train, which she wore with a massive floral headpiece. The dress is a never-worn archival look by John Galliano for Givenchy created in 1996.

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Holland captioned the shots of Zendaya, who co-chaired the evening, with three heart-eyes emojis.

The actor has also supported his girlfriend during the press tour for her new movie, Challengers. In April 2024, a source close to the Euphoria star exclusively told PEOPLE that Zendaya “was a little stressed” about her latest film being released and “worrying about how it would perform.”

“Getting this role was a really big deal to her,” the source explained. “She did insane prep for it and has been so involved with every aspect of the film and promotion.”

“Her family’s been super supportive throughout all of it, and Tom of course. They’re very, very cute together,” the source added.