Tom Holland’s latest role helped him have a better relationship with his own mental health.
The Spider-Man star told Entertainment Weekly in a piece published earlier this week that he has been sober for a year and four months — and that his role in the upcoming Apple TV+ mini-series The Crowded Room allowed him to recognize his own “triggers” and “things that stress me out”.
In the upcoming series, which premieres on 9 June, Tom plays Danny, a teen whose mental health is called into question after he is arrested for a crime he may not have committed.
“Learning about mental health and the power of it, and speaking to psychiatrists about Danny’s struggles, has been something that has been so informative to my own life,” Tom explained.
“I’m no stranger to the physical aspects of the job, doing the whole action-movie thing. But the mental aspect, it really beat me up, and it took a long time for me to recover afterward, to sort of get back to reality.”
Tom admitted that nine months into filming The Crowded Room, he struggled to separate his own identity from his character’s.
“I was seeing myself in him, but in my personal life,” the actor, who is dating his Spider-Man co-star Zendaya, recalled.
“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’.”
Tom said he ultimately opted not to do this because he was still in the middle of shooting, but described the incident as “unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before”.
Tom told Entertainment Weekly that one of his triggers is social media, and he has taken a few social media hiatuses throughout his career.
In August 2022, when the British performer announced he was going to take another break, he explained that he gets “caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online,” and explained that using apps like Instagram and Twitter can be “very detrimental to my mental state”.
Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.