Holland's career began at age nine when he enrolled in a dancing class, where a choreographer noticed him and arranged for him to audition for a role in ''Billy Elliot the Musical'' at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. After two years of training, he secured a supporting part in 2008 and was upgraded to the title role that year, which he played until 2010. Holland made his film debut in the disaster drama ''The Impossible'' (2012) as a teenage tourist trapped in a tsunami, for which he received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Goya Award for Best New Actor. After this, Holland decided to pursue acting as a full-time career, appearing in ''How I Live Now'' (2013) and playing historical figures in the film ''In the Heart of the Sea'' (2015) and the miniseries ''Wolf Hall'' (2015).