Tom Holland fans defend him from backlash over ‘The Crowded Room’ gay sex scene
Tom Holland. Image from Instagram
Even before Tom Holland’s new crime thriller “The Crowded Room” could be streamed on Philippine screen, his Instagram has already been flooded with messages bordering on homophobia following the showing of his gay sex scenes, with some netizens asking where the friendly, neighborhood Peter Parker had gone.
In “The Crowded Room,” created by the award-winning Akiva Goldsman, Holland plays the role of Danny Sullivan who was arrested for a New York City shooting incident — a seeming departure from the British actor’s usual fastidious character.
One of the highlights of the Apple TV+ miniseries was a scene where a kohl-lined Holland was being held against a wall with another man behind him.
The emotionally charged episode was something the actor seemed to be proud of, as can be gleaned from his Instagram post last July 8.
“Feeling blessed for all The Crowded Room love [heart emoji]. Thank you to all my amazing fans and to everyone watching the show. Episodes 8, 9 and 10 really take the show to new heights. I can’t wait to hear what you all think, and thank you again,” his caption read.
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Some 6.7 million fans reacted to his post, with some celebrities showing their support for the actor, including girlfriend and Spider-Man co-star Zendaya.
There were those, however, who would rather take it against the actor for taking a more mature role.
But some fans took up the cudgels for Holland, saying his performance in the series was amazing and not deserving of homophobia.
Struggle with alcohol addiction
Meanwhile, Holland opened up about his past struggle with alcohol addiction, and now that he has sobered up, he could only ask himself why he had allowed himself to become enslaved to booze.
Holland shared his thoughts during a podcast with Jay Shetty, where the Marvel’s webslinger whose playful portrayal of the movie screen superhero also discussed his mental health struggles and how he is trying to overcome it.
The London-born actor said in another interview that he started drinking a year and a half ago, and only a few months ago had been consciously trying to kick his addiction.
“Like many Brits, I just had a very boozy December. Christmas time, also on vacation. We’re drinking a lot. I’ve always been able to drink a lot, I think I got my genes from my mom’s side. So I decided to just give up in January, and all I can think about was having a drink. All I can think about, I was waking up thinking about it. And it just really scared me. So I sort of decided to punish myself and do February as well without drink, two months go by and I was still really struggling. I started to really worry that maybe I have an alcohol problem,” he said.
Holland said that he decided to hold out on the alcohol to wait until his birthday in June, just to prove that he has licked the problem.
“I said to myself if I can do six months without alcohol then I can prove to myself that I don’t have a problem. By the time I had got to June 1 I was the happiest I have ever been in my life. I can sleep better, I can handle problems better. Things that could go wrong on set that would normally set me off I have taken in stride. I had such better mental clarity and I felt healthier. So I asked myself, ‘Why am I enslaved with this drink?'” he admitted.
READ: Tom Holland admits his emotional drunk call ‘saved Spider-Man’ from Sony-Disney split
The Avengers actor also claimed that he decided to delete his Instagram because he felt like he was getting addicted to a “false version of my life,” in which he was becoming obsessed with what people were saying about him.
However, his decision to preserve his mental health backfired when the press painted his action “in the negative light.”
“The thing that really upset me is that the press ran with that. If I was having a mental breakdown, that’s not for you to report on. They took the story in the wrong direction and they painted it in negative light on mental health. Rather than saying, ‘It’s okay that he’s doing it so we should feel okay to doing it too,’ they were saying, ‘Oh look, he’s not the perfect, happy-go-lucky kid you think he is. He’s having a nervous breakdown in New York.’ I think that was a really unfair line of journalism,” said Holland.
