Brushing aside fictional characters who fight crime and shoot webs, Hollywood’s favorite “Spider-Man,” Tom Holland, took on his most complex role yet.
And, it may be his most memorable.
Holland, 27, stars in Apple TV+’s summer psychological-thriller miniseries, “The Crowded Room,” which premiered on June 9 and concludes its 10-week run on Friday.
The show sets itself in the late 1970s in New York, and Holland plays the main character, Danny Sullivan, who suffers from a mental illness called Dissociative Identity Disorder. He is involved in a shooting at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, and his role in the incident — or lack thereof — is the focal point of the series.
Holland took on the challenge of portraying a broken character, who undergoes several traumatic events, to broaden his career. And although this is no “Spider-Man,” fans have found it refreshing to see Holland take on a different role and genre.
“Danny Sullivan highlights the darker part of humanity. His mental health is a big factor in his character,” Nathan Padilla, a longtime fan of Holland, said. “The trauma he experiences in his life affects him, as shown in the film. This is way different from the loving character that is ‘Spider-Man.'”
The veteran of several films faced the challenge of playing a persona with many layers. After all, Sullivan endures a lot of pain and suffering, mainly due to his troubled past with an abusive stepfather Marlin Reid, played by actor Will Chase.
As an actor, Holland had to project and evoke feelings and emotions in a way that fans had never seen before, which showed the “darker” characteristics of Sullivan.
“We did get to see him express emotions of sadness in his last ‘Spider-Man’ movie, but the emotions were coming from a place of grief, whereas in the series they are coming from a place of trauma,” said Julian Barreto, a fan of “Spider-Man” as well as “The Crowded Room.”
“I would imagine it would be harder for him to express darker emotion in ‘The Crowded Room,’ because of the character starting out with mental (health) issues. Playing a superhero is one thing. But playing someone with a mental illness is another.”
The megastar has been featured in other films, such as the 2012 drama, “The Impossible,” and the 2013 drama, “How I Live Now.” Yet, his role in 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” catapulted him into the spotlight. Since then, Holland’s acting skills have not gone unnoticed, especially by top-notch producers.
In publicity materials provided by Apple TV+, Akiva Goldsman, the creator and one of the series’s executive producers, shared his admiration towards Holland for taking on such a versatile role.
“Tom was really the first and only person for this role,” Goldsman said. “What’s interesting about Danny is that we all have different faces. It’s remarkably facile to say, but we all have different personality states, and we bring different parts of ourselves to various interactions.”
Co-star Amanda Seyfried, 37, plays Rya Goodwin, a professor and the police’s psychological consultant in Sullivan’s case who often shares scenes with Holland.
Given that the series is set in the 1970s, the costume design was inspired by that era, and Holland and Seyfriend play along. Viewers get to see the characters in some retro, yet sophisticated, clothing reminiscent of a rebellious, funky era in New York.
By way of the soundtrack, the series continues to take you back to the past with its groovy and slow-tempo beats. Songs such as, “Spank,” by Jimmy Bo, “Let it Be,” by the Beatles, and “Take it,” by Donnie and Joe Emerson, are featured.
“The setting definitely stood out to me. I think it’s part of what made the show so different,” Padilla said. “I can’t wait to see what’s next for him.”
After Friday’s season finale, the miniseries will remain on Apple TV+’s platforms in totality.
