 Tom Holland at the premiere of The Crowded Room in New York On 1 June, Photo: CNNÂ
Tom Holland announced that he’s taking time off from acting to concentrate on his mental health after undergoing a” tough time” and” a bit of meltdown” while working on his most recent film.
The Crowded Room, which he both created and featured in, is an Apple TV thriller series that the 27- year-old British actor is presently promoting. Holland portrays a character that’s partly based on Billy Milligan, known as” the Campus Rapist” in the United States, who claimed to have 24 different personalities and was the first person to be judged not guilty by reason of insanity based on a dissociative identity disorder diagnosis.
Holland said in an interview with Extra on Wednesday that he had “loved the learning curve of becoming a producer” but that managing those responsibilities while playing a character with a serious mental illness had pushed him too far.
I’ve always believed that effort pays off, but the show really broke me,” he added. When I needed a break, I took a week off and traveled to Mexico to relax and enjoy the beach. I made the decision to take a year off due to the difficulties of this show. I can’t wait to see the result. I think our efforts weren’t in vain. It was undoubtedly a challenging period, he continued. He also added that there was a time when they were talking about certain emotions that he never experienced before. Tom added, “Along with that, managing the day-to-day issues that arise on any film set as a producer just added another layer of pressure.”
Photo Credit: IMDB
In a May interview with Entertainment Weekly, Holland admitted that he struggled to distinguish himself from his The Crowded Room character and had even considered shaving his head to “get rid” of it.
“I saw myself in him, but only in my personal life. I can recall having a small breakdown at home and declaring, “I’m going to shave my head.” I need to get rid of this character, so I need to shave my head,” he stated. I chose not to because we were plainly in the middle of a shooting. Nothing like it had ever happened to me before.
He continued by saying that since he had already performed in numerous action films, it was not the character’s physical appearance that alarmed him. But the mental aspect of the job ultimately wrecked him. It took me a long time to heal and sort of return to reality later, but the mental aspect really knocked me up, he added.
In the past, Holland has discussed trying to safeguard his mental health when in the public eye, which includes abstaining from alcohol and social media. In addition to helping him “recognize triggers” and “things that stress me out,” he claimed that the show had improved his awareness of his mental health.
He admitted in 2021 that he was thinking of completely giving up acting, adding, I’m not even certain that I want to be an actor. Since I started acting when I was 11 and haven’t done anything else since I’d like to go on and do other things. I’m having what can be called a pre-midlife crisis at the age of 25.
In The Crowded Room, Holland co-stars with Amanda Seyfried. On Friday, Apple TV+ will debut the Akiva Goldsman-penned television series.
