Tom Holland Says ‘Crowded Room’ Set Was “Not a Very Harmonious Place”: “A Lot of Animosity”

Tom Holland is opening up about his experience on the set of the Apple TV+ series The Crowded Room. 

The Spider-Man: No Way Home actor credited his sobriety for keeping him grounded during the 2022 filming of the psychological thriller, which he executive produced and starred in alongside Emmy Rossum, Amanda Seyfried, Will Chase and Sasha Lane. The Crowded Room follows Holland’s Danny Sullivan as he confronts his mental health after becoming involved in a shooting.

“There was quite a lot of animosity on that set,” Holland shared in a Men’s Health profile published on Thursday. “It was not a very harmonious place, and there was a lot of arguing and butting heads.”

Holland revealed that the disagreements were not creative and the conflict forced him to examine his sobriety. 

“I thought, ‘If I start drinking again now, with all this going on, it’s gonna get worse, right?’” the actor, who has been sober since 2022, added. 

Holland previously reflected on his time filming The Crowded Room, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the 10-episode series “absolutely broke me in every way possible.” 

“I just kept my head down. I dug my heels in, and I just tried my best,” the actor said.

Co-executive producer Alexandra Milchan told THR at the time that Holland was involved in every aspect of filming, including scenes, dialogues, sets and production issues, which allowed him earn his executive producer title.

“Tom is always prepared,” Milchan said. “Tom cares, and Tom gives it all. … So, I really give it to him. He went and opened up his heart and soul. I feel like in the show you can see his soul almost. There’s a purity and an emotional fragility that he allows us to see. You can’t fake that.” 

Rossum, who played Danny’s mother Candy, opened up about working with Holland and the rest of The Crowded Room cast, saying that the series required them to go to “dark places.”  

“I think that the characters in the story asked us to go to incredibly challenging, dark, thrilling places and having scene partners that are equally kind of fearless and unafraid to be vulnerable,” Rossum told THR. “It’s nice to go to the brink with them and still be holding hands.”

Next up, Holland will star in Christopher Nolan’s latest film with Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron.