The star behind everybody’s favorite wall-crawler is reportedly facing some mental health issues and has recently opened up about them.
Tom Holland, known for bringing Peter Parker (also known as Spider-Man) to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is no stranger to dark and mentally challenging roles.
Whether in an attempt to distance himself from the awkward teenager Peter Parker or in an attempt to explore his creativity, Tom Holland has been taking on darker roles for years.
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Films such as The Devil All the Time (2020) and Cherry (2021) are prime examples, as they contain much more disturbing, realistic, and uncomfortable imagery and topics.
Holland starred in both of these films after having dazzled audiences as Spider-Man, and the tone of these films is anything but the tone of any Spider-Man movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date.
Now, Tom Holland stars in an Apple TV show, The Crowded Room (2023), which debuts next month. However, this series may have pushed the young actor to his breaking point.
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In The Crowded Room, Tom Holland plays Danny Sullivan, a young man who has been accused of a horrible crime but is unsure if he has ultimately committed the crime or not. As the series has yet to come out, there’s limited information regarding the story and the character.
But we know that the filming process caused the young star to reevaluate and struggle with his mental health, causing him to stop drinking.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Holland reveals he has been sober for over a year and stopped drinking when he realized he was using it to cope with the mental stresses caused by this role.
Reportedly, Holland also found it difficult to separate himself from the role of Danny Sullivan:
I remember having a bit of a meltdown at home and thinking, like, ‘I’m going to shave my head. I need to shave my head because I need to get rid of this character.’ And, obviously, we were mid-shooting, so I decided not to… It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
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However, Tom Holland is hopeful about the situation, and the potential viewers have to learn more about mental health while watching his performance: “I hope that people will feel educated about the powers of mental health, the struggles, [and] our incredible abilities to survive.”