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Tom Holland announced in a recent video interview with Extra that he will stop acting next year after painstaking production on new crime thriller The Crowded Room on Apple TV+. The series stars Holland as Danny Sullivan, who was arrested in the summer of 1979 for his involvement in the Rockefeller Center shooting. The show is based on the true crimes committed by Billy Milligan, who was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder.
“It was a tough time, for sure,” Holland told Extra of producing the show. “We were exploring some emotions that I had never experienced before. On top of that, being a producer, dealing with the day-to-day problems that come with any movie set, I added that extra level of pressure.”
Holland said he “loved the learning curve of becoming a producer”, but playing two roles in one production while playing a character in severe mental health pushed him past his breaking point.
“I’m no stranger to working hard,” Holland said. “I lived with the idea that hard work is good business. Then again, the show broke me. The time came when I needed a break and I disappeared and went to Mexico for a week and spent time at the beach and laid back. I’m now taking a year off, which is a result of how hard this is.” show. I’m excited to see how that turns out. I feel like our hard work hasn’t been in vain.”
during Interview with Entertainment Weekly Last month, Holland revealed that working on The Crowded Room had led to “a bit of a meltdown” in his personal life.
“I was seeing myself in [the character], but in my personal life, Holland said. “I remember having 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 in the middle of filming, so I decided not to… It was unlike anything I’d tried before.”
Holland confirmed to EW that since then he has been sober for a year and four months. He credited the Apple TV+ series with changing his views on his mental health.
“Learning about mental health and the power of it, and talking to psychiatrists about Danny and Billy’s struggles, has been something that has been very helpful for my life,” the actor said, noting that he is now able to “recognize triggers” like social media that “stress me”.
Holland stars in “The Crowded Room” opposite Amanda Seyfried, Sasha Lane, Will Chase, Lior Raz, Laila Robbins, Christopher Abbott and Henry Eikenberry. The series premieres June 9 on Apple TV+.
