“The show did break me.”
Despite being just 27 years old, Tom Holland has truly cemented himself as one of the most lovable actors conjured up by Britain in recent years.
From his roles in Spider-Man, Uncharted, and The Devil All The Time, Holland has become a household name across the globe, however it’s his most recent role which is by far his most controversial.
Starring as Danny Sullivan in Apple TV miniseries, The Crowded Room, Holland plays a character who is arrested in relation to a shooting in New York City, 1979. While being interviewed by an interrogator (Amanda Seyfried), Holland’s character revealed that he has dissociative identity disorder (DID).
One of the character’s other personalities is that of a woman, named Ariana, who in one scene in the show has sex with a man.
Holland’s performance in the male sex scene has gone viral online (understandable) and while Holland has faced some backlash, the bulk of comments come in the form of praise for his handling of a very complex character.
One fan wrote: Tom Holland out here killing it as an actor tbh, love to see it.”
Another wrote: “That one scene of Tom Holland from The Crowded Room that’s going around is not what people think it is, if people actually watched the show they would know there’s a lot more to it psychologically. Ngl though it did catch me off guard.”
Others commented on the fact that fellow Spider-Man actors, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, have also played gay characters in the past.
One observed: “The people posting ‘not my spiderman’ about tom holland because of his gay scene like… honey i have some news for you.” While another commented: “I find it so funny that people are mad at Tom Holland for being LGBT in the crowded room and seeing the others who Spider-Man are better for that reason, when Andrew Garfield is an extreme ally and played gay characters, and Tobey McGuire is similar [sic].”
However, despite the endless torrent of praise making its way into Holland’s ears, the actor has announced that he will be taking a year-long break from acting following the show.
Speaking about the show recently, Holland told ExtraTV: “I’m no stranger to hard work, I’ve always lived by this idea that hard work is good work. I really enjoyed it but then again, the show did break me.
“There did come a time when I was sort of, ‘I need to have a break’. I disappeared. I went to Mexico for a week and had some time on a beach and lay low. And I’m now taking a year off, and that is a result of how difficult this show was.”
The Crowded Room is available to watch on Apple TV.
