At age nine, Holland began dancing at a hip hop class at Nifty Feet Dance School in Wimbledon, where he performed with his school group at the 2006 Richmond Dance Festival. There, he was spotted by choreographer Lynne Page, an associate to Peter Darling, choreographer of Billy Elliot the Musical. Page arranged an audition for Holland, where the musical's director Stephen Daldry thought that he "had great potential and was a very natural actor". After two years of training in ballet, tap dancing and acrobatics, Holland won the role of Michael Caffrey, the protagonist's best friend, and made his debut performance at the West End's Victoria Palace Theatre in June 2008. During his time performing in the musical, Holland learned gymnastics. Holland says when his peers at school found out about his dancing activities, they started bullying him.

Later in 2008, Holland and co-star Tanner Pflueger were promoted to the lead role in the musical. On his first day playing Elliot, Holland developed tonsillitis but performed on stage anyway to positive reviews; he went to the doctor the next day. Following his stage success, Holland hoped to be popular in school and that his schoolmates would stop bullying him. After being in a professional environment, he matured earlier than his peers and struggled to fit in. As a result, his GCSE grades suffered. After his work on Billy Elliot the Musical finished in 2010, Holland voiced a role in the British dub of the Japanese animated fantasy film Arrietty (2011), and sent an audition tape to Juan Antonio Bayona for a part in The Impossible (2012). Bayona then arranged a meeting, and had Holland write a letter to his mother and recite it as an audition. Impressed with his emotional delivery, Bayona cast Holland in the film.

In The Impossible, Holland played a teenager trapped with his family in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Transitioning from stage to screen was initially hard for Holland due to the shift from live audience to camera. He and co-star Naomi Watts filmed scenes in a 35,000-gallon water tank, which were physically and psychologically taxing for them. Working with Watts made Holland realise that he wanted to pursue an acting career permanently. The Impossible premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September to critical and commercial success, earning $180.3 million against a budget of $45 million. Holland received critical praise for his performance. A. O. Scott of The New York Times found Holland to be "a terrific young actor", praising his character's transition from a self-involved to a responsible adolescent. He won several awards, including the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance and London Film Critics Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year. Holland featured in the drama film How I Live Now (2013), lent his voice in a supporting role for the drama film Locke (2013), and had a cameo in Billy Elliot the Mus…

Read more on Wikipedia

Nadia Khomami of The Guardian said that Holland's "cheeky British charm, vulnerability and wit" has made him the object of infatuation on the internet. Jonathan Dean of The Sunday Times considered him to be "poised and professional, but also so confident and personable" and took note of his maturity "despite boyish wiriness". German actor Sönke Möhring, his co-star from The Impossible, similarly remarked on his professionalism, adding, "he is blessed with a deep soul [...] down to earth, very polite and a friendly kid." Kevin Macdonald, who directed Holland in How I Live Now, praised him as confident, "articulate and enthusiastic", and attributed Holland's success to his positive energy. When asked about the secret to his success, Holland said he believes in avoiding trouble and working hard.

Holland appeared on Screen International's "UK Stars of Tomorrow – 2012", and The Hollywood Reporter's "Next Gen 2015", a list of promising newcomers in film. In 2019, he featured on Forbes' "30 Under 30 Europe", a list of influential people under 30 years, and Insider Inc.'s "45 young stars who will one day rule Hollywood". After appearing on Glamour's "Hot, Young & British Actors 2020", he was named among the best actors under 30 by Tuko, and Complex Networks in 2021. In the former listing, Ryan Mutuku described him as "a darling to the English media" because of his openness and willingness to also give interviews not related to film promotions. Calling him "his generation's biggest leading man" in 2021, GQ's Oliver Franklin-Wallis wrote, "Holland has ascended to a tier of stardom few actors ever reach, and rarely so young". Variety editors Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin reported in December 2021 that after the success of the Spider-Man films, Holland could become a top-paid actor in the future. They noted the current lack of young leading men in Hollywood and saw Holland's potential to herald a new generation of successful actors.

Holland considers himself to be "an impossible people pleaser", which according to Olivia Singh of Business Insider has resulted in his facing burnout and an incident where he vomited after a press conference. A self-admittedly indiscreet person, Holland has gained a reputation for inadvertently spoiling important plot elements of his films during interviews and press conferences. His MCU co-stars labelled him the "least trustworthy" cast member in terms of spoilers. To prevent an incident, he only read parts of Captain America: Civil War's script. Joe Russo similarly avoided giving Holland the script to Avengers: Endgame, and Holland knew only his lines.

Holland has expressed his views on the film industry. In a 2019 interview with The Sunday Times, he spoke for more representation of racial minorities and the LGBT community in …

Read more on Wikipedia

Holland describes himself as a private person and is reluctant to discuss his personal life. He has also discussed having frequent episodes of sleepwalking and sleep paralysis nightmares of paparazzi in his bedroom.

He had been in a relationship with his Spider-Man co-star, Zendaya, for some time before publicly acknowledging it in November 2021; he later discussed that he felt that the consistent media attention it received breached their privacy. In January 2025, it was confirmed that he and Zendaya were engaged.

After feeling dependent on alcohol in social situations, he has been a teetotaler since participating in Dry January in 2022. In October 2024, Holland helped launch BERO, a low-alcohol beer brand, with his brother Harry.