Tom Holland Opens Up About His Struggle With The Movie Industry, Taking Break From Acting To Focus On Family – 'I Really Do Not Like Hollywood'

Accomplished actor and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ star Tom Holland revealed on Monday that he would be taking a break from acting, explaining that he is fearful of Hollywood and the business that takes place in it.

The British actor spoke with Jay Shetty on the ‘Jay Shetty Podcast’ where he talked about a more vulnerable side of himself and the different trials and tribulations he’s faced as an up-and-coming actor in modern Hollywood. 

"I really am a massive fan of making movies, but I really do not like Hollywood. It is not for me," he stated bluntly. "The business really scares me. I understand that I’m a part of that business and I enjoy my kind of interactions with it, but that said, I am always looking for ways to kind of remove myself from it to kind of just live as normal a life as possible."

"I definitely think it has been an ongoing thought, which is ‘don’t lose yourself.’ I’ve seen so many people come before me and lose themselves, and I’ve had friends that I’ve grown up with that aren’t friends of mine anymore because they’ve lost themselves to this business, and I just am really, really keen to focus on what makes me happy which is my family, my friends, my carpentry, my golf, the charity my mom runs, that is the stuff that makes me really happy and that is the stuff I should protect," he explained. 

The Marvel actor announced in June that, upon completing his most recent project, ‘The Crowded Room,’ he would be taking a break from acting. The actor also recently opened up about his struggle with alcohol and his inability to quit drinking the substance. 

The actor explained on the podcast that he attempted to go dry for a month and found himself unable to, saying, “All I could think about was having a drink. It really scared me. I was just like, ‘Wow, maybe I have a little bit of an alcohol thing.’”

Holland has since been able to overcome his drinking problem after going six months sober, easing any doubts about still facing the addiction. 

“[I was] the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” Holland said about hitting six months of sobriety. “I could sleep better. I could handle problems better. Things that would go wrong on set, that would normally set me off, I could take in my stride. I had such better mental clarity. I felt healthier, I felt fitter… I just sort of said to myself, like, ‘Why? Why am I enslaved to this drink? Why am I so obsessed by the idea of having this drink?'”

Hollywood has certainly done a lot to break the actor down. The movie industry demands more than people could ever imagine and works to break an individual down until there is nothing left of them except an empty shell ready to take a new role. It’s good to see Holland prioritize himself and what really matters to him and hopefully the best is yet to come from the young actor.