Fans have defended Tom Holland after he was confronted by vicious trolls who criticized his LGBTQ role in The Crowded Room.
The 27-year-old Spider-Man sensation stars in and produces Apple TV+’s psychological thriller series, a role he says he “broke.”
A clip of one of Tom’s steamy sex scenes with a man has gone viral on social media, with many praising the British actor for his diverse role choices and for taking on such a complex character.
However, some trolls criticized the star, with one tweeting, “Tom Gone Wrong #NotMySpiderMan.”
Tom plays Danny Sullivan in the thriller, a young man arrested on suspicion of committing a chilling crime, who reveals details about his alternate personality disorder during interviews with an interrogator played by Amanda Seyfried.
One of the character’s other personalities is a woman named Ariana, who has an intimate scene with a man during one of the episodes.
Fan support: Fans have defended Tom Holland after he faced vicious trolls criticizing his LGBTQ role in The Crowded Room
Difficult role: Tom plays Danny Sullivan, a young man arrested on suspicion of committing a chilling crime, who reveals details about his alternate personality disorder during interviews with an interrogator
Tom’s fans were quick to point out that fellow Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield have played gay characters before.
One fan commented, “So happy to see Tom Holland continue the Peter Parker tradition of having hot gay sex.”
Another joined the conversation and said: “Andrew Garfield has been a great ally of the LGBT+ community for many years, won a Tony for playing a gay man and kissed several men on TV. And more things…and today he’s being used by homophobes against Tom Holland for one scene…please make it stop.’
“The people who post ‘not my spiderman’ about Tom Holland because of his gay scene, like… darling, I have news for you,” a third fan wrote.
“People who see Tom Holland playing a gay role even though they know he’s an actor and doing what he’s paid to do,” another user wrote.
Another person commented in a conversation thread, “So it’s unrelated to him being Spider-man.” Spider-man is Spider-man, Tom Holland playing gay doesn’t make Spider-Man gay. Benedict Cumberbatch played two gay characters and I’ve never seen anyone say ‘not my Dr. strange.”
However, The Impossible star has since revealed he’s taking a year-long break from acting after his role in The Crowded Room “broke” him.
Act: . One of the character’s other personalities is a woman named Ariana, who has an intimate scene with a man during one of the episodes.
Remember this? Tom’s fans were quick to point out that fellow Spider-Man actors, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, have played gay characters before.
The Hollywood star said both starring in the dark psychological thriller and producing it was “tough.”
And after a busy two years that also saw him helm the blockbuster movies Spider-Man: No Way Home and Uncharted, he’s ready to step back from the limelight.
In an interview with ExtraTVTom said that after working on The Crowded Room, “I’m now taking a year off, and that’s a result of how hard this show was.”
He added, “I’m excited to see how it turns out, and I feel like our hard work hasn’t been in vain.”
“It was definitely a tough time,” Tom remembers his time on set. “You know, we were exploring certain emotions that I’ve definitely never experienced before, and on top of that, as a producer, dealing with the day-to-day issues that come with every movie set added that extra level. ‘
“But I really enjoyed it, I loved the learning curve of becoming a producer. I am no stranger to hard work, I have always lived by the idea that hard work is good work. And I really enjoyed it.’
Difficult: It comes after Tom said starring in the dark psychological thriller and producing it was ‘difficult’
“But then again, the show broke me. There came a time when I thought, ‘I need to get away from it all.’
The Crowded Room was inspired by Daniel Keyes’ 1981 non-fiction book The Minds of Billy Milligan, which centered on the person of the same name.
Milligan, who was arrested for committing several crimes, was eventually cleared of his crimes after pleading insanity following a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder.
During the trial, he claimed that several of his alternate personalities committed the crimes and that he was unaware of his criminal actions.
The actor previously spoke to Weekly entertainment and said his involvement in the project led him to reevaluate his own mental health.
“Learning about mental health and its power, and talking to psychiatrists about Danny and Billy’s struggles, is something that has been so informative for my own life,” he said.
Tom added: “I hope people will feel educated about the powers of mental health, the struggle, [and] our incredible abilities to survive.’
Break: In an interview with ExtraTV, Tom said that after working on The Crowded Room, I’m “taking a year off now, and that’s a result of how hard this show was”