Tom Hollandhas acknowledged that he had a 'problem' with alcohol, revealing in new interviews published this week in the US and UK that he secretly drank heavily while working and has now channelled his sobriety into launching a non-alcoholic beer brand.
TheSpider-Manstar, 28, spoke about his experiences on Amy Poehler'sGood Hangpodcast and in an interview withGQ, describing how he would often drink alone in hotel rooms before turning up on set the following morning.
The news came after years in which Holland's image has been that of a grounded, almost unusually sensible leading man for his age. Fans have watched his relationship with Zendaya unfold, while studios have promoted him as an energetic, reliable box-office draw.
In public, there was little hint of turmoil. The picture he sketches now is more complicated and, frankly, more familiar: a young actor travelling the world, working intense hours and quietly leaning too hard on alcohol to cope.
In hisGQinterview, Holland said he was not the stereotypical hard-partying celebrity holding court in nightclubs. Instead, his drinking took place in private, on the road, after work.
'I had my times, but I wasn't necessarily the nightclub-going person as much as I could sit at home in my hotel room and finish a minibar and go to work the next day,' he recalled. 'So my version of wild was very, I guess, un-Hollywood. I was always pretty sensible. I just drank too much.'
That last line lands heavier than it first appears. Many people would recognise the logic: if the work gets done, if you turn up on time, it can't be that bad. Holland now clearly disagrees.
In speaking to Poehler, he did not soften his language. He quit drinking, he said, because he 'had a problem' and 'couldn't put it down.' He added that alcohol had begun to seep into every corner of his life.
'It was affecting my professional life. It was affecting my personal life and my health,' he toldGood Hang. 'So, I decided to pack it in. And I got through that first year, which I think was the toughest challenge that I've ever been on.'
Holland first opened up publicly about his relationship with alcohol in 2023 on theOn Purpose with Jay Shettypodcast. At that point, he described a creeping obsession, saying it got to the stage where 'all [he] could think about was having a drink.' He said the intensity of that focus 'really scared' him and left him feeling 'enslaved' to alcohol.
Source: International Business Times UK
