Tom Holland is best known for playing Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he recently tried out something completely different: in the new Apple TV+ series The Crowded Room, he plays Danny Sullivan, a character based on real-life serial rapist Billy Milligan. Playing such a twisted part took a toll on Holland’s mental health.
Speaking with ExtraTV, Holland said that the shoot was a “tough time” which involved him “exploring certain emotions that I have definitely never experienced before.” Holland also worked as a producer on The Crowded Room, which involved “dealing with the day-to-day problems that come with any film set,” which added an “extra level of pressure.”
While Holland is used to tough working hours, he admits that “the show did break me. There did come a time where I needed a break and disappeared and went to Mexico for a week and had time on a beach and laid low. I’m now taking a year off, and that is a result of how difficult this show was.”
Acting on his new Apple TV+ show led to “a bit of a meltdown” for Tom Holland
In another interview for Entertainment Weekly, Holland said he relished the challenge of playing such a different character: “I’ve spent so long playing Nathan Drake and playing Spider-Man, who are characters that you can depend on, people you feel safe around, and, ultimately, people that feel really capable. I really enjoyed playing Danny in those earlier episodes where I was able to lean into my more vulnerable side.”
However, Holland added that playing Danny led to “a bit of a meltdown” in his personal life, and that “the mental aspect [of the role] it really beat me up and it took a long time for me to recover afterwards, to sort of get back to reality.”
He credits the show with shifting his own perceptions of mental health, speaking from a position of now being one year and four months sober. “Learning about mental health and the power of it, and speaking to psychiatrists about Danny and Billy’s struggles, has been something that has been so informative to my own life,” he said. He named social media in particular as something that stressed him out, and indeed, he has decreased his presence on Instagram in recent years.
Holland hopes that through watching The Crowded Room, viewers will “have more respect and more sympathy for people who are going through mental health issues…I hope that people will feel educated about the powers of mental health, the struggles, [and] our incredible abilities to survive.”
Tom Holland will play Spider-Man again on one condition
Obviously, we hope Holland enjoys his sabbatical. One group who probably isn’t too enthused about it is Sony, who would love to get cracking on another Spider-Man movie as soon as possible. Without Holland, that could be difficult.
Holland has had talks about another Spider-Man film, but it doesn’t sound like he’s completely committed as of yet. Speaking to Kevin Polowy of Yahoo Entertainment, Holland said that while he feels very lucky to play the character, he’ll only return to the role on one condition:
“If we can’t find a way to compete with the third one, he’ll swing off into the sunset,” Holland said. “The third one” is the monumentally successful movie Spider-Man: No Way Home, which delighted audiences and blew the roof off the box office back in 2020. That’s a tall order.
We’ll see if there’s anything in the future for Spidey. In the meantime, The Crowded Room is available to stream on Apple TV+.
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