The Crowded Room: Tom Holland reveals how he defied a studio – over a hairstyle

Best known to global cinema audiences as the crime-fighting web-slinger Spider-Man, Tom Holland has now made the jump to prestige TV.

The beloved British actor plays another troubled young man – Danny Sullivan – in Apple TV+’s late 1970s-set drama The Crowded Room.

Based on Daniel Keyes’ 1981 non-fiction novel The Minds of Billy Milligan, the 10-part psychological thriller also stars Amanda Seyfried, Emmy Rossum, Sasha Lane, Emma Laird and Will Chase.

Stuff to Watch recently joined a New York Zoom call to catch up with the just turned 27-year-old Holland ahead of the series’ debut worldwide on June 9.

In Cherry you played someone with PTSD, in Devil All the Time your mind went to all these dark and difficult places and here, there are memories that are disappearing from your life. What is your fascination with playing these characters who have these mental health struggles and challenges?

I’ve never really thought of it in that way, that I am kind of chasing characters with these ailments as such. I love a great story. I love a great challenge. I love working with great people and The Crowded Room offered all of those things.

Why did this particular project grab you?

I was shooting Spider-Man 3. I was in-between hanging upside down, fighting Alfred Molina and having the time of my life and I found out Akiva [Goldsman, The Crowded Room’s showrunner] wanted to speak to me about this project. I met with him on the Christmas break on Zoom and we immediately hit it off. Our 45-minute meeting turned into a two-hour epic about what The Crowded Room could be. He was kind enough to give me the job and the adventure started from there really.

What is it about you and New York?. First there was the Spider-Man trilogy – and now this. When is a statue going to be built there in your honour?

I’m probably the wrong person to ask that question. I’m a huge fan of New York. I was delighted to call it home for almost a year. It is as much a character in the show as I am. New York in the ‘70s was a pretty crazy place. I think our department heads did a pretty wonderful job of bringing that to life. It was very cool stepping into that era. It was also equally scary – it was a very, very different time.

Speaking of the scary ‘70s, did you get much say in the wardrobe – and that hairstyle in particular?

I tell you what mate, I learnt a really valuable lesson from Jake Gyllenhaal once – “commit to hair and makeup and commit to wardrobe. Do whatever you can to make yourself look as aesthetically different as possible with each role that you have” – and with Danny Sullivan, I went for it.

The studio wouldn’t really allow me to cut my in the way that we did. Ultimately, I just took an executive decision to say, “I’m going to do it anyway because this is how I think the character should look”. I’m delighted that we did, because I think the hair is the icing on the cake for the character.

As for the wardrobe? I loved the wardrobe. I’ve kept it all – I still wear the flared jeans. I think they did a wonderful job of putting that all together.

Talk us through that hairstyle. What made you so convinced that it had to be that way?

I think I trust my own judgement. My make-up artist Rachel Speke did these wonderful mood boards for what she wanted to achieve and we would sit there and look at these different pictures of people in New York in the ‘70s and so many times this haircut popped up.

I think we were a little hesitant, because it is a huge departure from what I look like in real life, but I just felt it was so important with the character like this to disappear into his life as much as possible and be as authentic to the period. I do remember showing up to the camera test and there being some rather unhappy faces, but I think they came around in the end.

I feel more comfortable making executive decisions now because Rachel and I have worked on five or six feature films together. I feel like we’ve always done a really good job – and it’s always for the service of the show.

It is such a complex role. How did you stay on top of all the facets of it?

I think we did a great job of scheduling it so lots of our actors’ stuff was in order, but that wasn’t the case for me. I was bouncing backwards and forwards in time on so many different days. Shooting multiple episodes on the same day was really, really tough. It meant we really had to be vigilant and prepared for every day’s work.

Ben Perkins, my acting coach, arguably saved the show. He was so good at making sure Danny’s arc was a strong cohesive one, not only to us making the show, but also to the audience.

There are some very intense scenes in The Crowded Room. What kind of on and off-set support did you have?

Akiva is a professional, he was a great ally on set. He’s not only a great friend, but also a great leader. I have a wonderful support system of friends – my brother was with me and my best friends from my personal life also work together as a team. Yes, there were times when I needed a shoulder to cry on – and I had plenty of shoulders to choose from. I was very lucky.

Since you became a star in the Spider-Man movies, you’ve also consistently stretched your acting skills in other, smaller roles – is that something you’ve deliberately sought out to do?

It’s something that I’m definitely very aware of. I love playing Spider-Man and Peter Parker, who I feel like is my best friend. He changed my life. I also have had two incredibly gifted agents since I was 13 years old who have been so good at positioning me to work at the right times with the right people.

It has definitely been something that has been in our strategic conversations about not getting put into one box. I love challenging myself. For me, it all comes under the same umbrella. It is something we think about and something we actively try to achieve.

Roles like this must take up so much energy and emotion – how do you take a break?

I am currently taking a year off. Today has been my first day of work in ‘23. I’ve been home, I’ve been lying low, I’ve been working on my house and building cupboards and gardening and all that sort of stuff.

I did know while I was making The Crowded Room that I did have this wonderfully long break coming up, so I took on the challenge, was dealing with the hardships of the character knowing that I had a break at the end.

I thought that after two months I’d be itching to get back on set. I’m now six months in and I’m absolutely loving my time off – I’m really enjoying myself.

The Crowded Room begins streaming on Apple TV+ on June 9.