Tom Holland Reveals He's Been Sober For 16 Months, Says His New Drama Series Helped Him Better Understand His "Triggers"

Tom Holland has been sober for over a year.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the Uncharted actor, 26, shared that he is one year and four months sober and that working on the Apple TV psychological thriller The Crowded Room forced him to take stock of his mental health.

In The Crowded Room, Holland plays Danny Sullivan, a shy, anti-social teen from upstate New York who is arrested after a shooting at the Rockefeller Centre in 1979. Amanda Seyfriend co-stars as an investigator who helps Danny to navigate his issues. 

The 10-part drama is inspired by a true story and based on the 1981 novel The Minds of Billy Milligan. The real Billy Milligan was accused of kidnapping, raping and robbing three women near Ohio State University.

Holland said: "Learning about mental health and the power of it, and speaking to psychiatrists about Danny and Billy's struggles, has been something that has been so informative to my own life."

He found it particularly helpful to learn to "recognise triggers" and thinks that "stress [him] out" such as social media. Last year, Holland took a break from social media after finding Instagram and Twitter to be "overwhelming".

Holland admitted working on The Crowded Room took a huge toll on his mental health in ways he's never experienced before.

He said: "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 afterwards, to sort of get back to reality."

Recalling an incident nine months after filming, he added: "I was seeing myself in him, but in my personal life.

"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.'

"And, obviously, we were mid-shooting, so I decided not to… It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before."

Fortunately, Holland was supported by his co-stars, in particular Sasha Lane, who plays his friend and roommate Ariana.

He said: "She was so helpful for me, because there were moments on set where I really was struggling to understand Danny's reasoning or Danny's actions.

"She would take me aside and was really open and willing to share some of her experiences that were so helpful in the

moment."

The Crowded Room launches on Apple TV+ on June 9 with the first three episodes, with the following seven airing weekly afterward.— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos

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