Tom Holland Shares What Sparked His Sobriety

The Crowded Room’s Tom Holland opened up about his sobriety journey and his mental health. In an appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast, the Spider-Man 4 actor explained what motivated his decision to step away from social media and drinking. In effect, Holland noticed that he had been indulging a bit too much over the holidays. When he really sat with those feelings, he noticed some other patterns in his life that needed addressing. So, with Dry January on the way, he took the plunge. However, the Marvel star had to admit that putting down drink was harder than he might have been expecting!

“I didn’t one day wake up and say I’m giving up drinking,” Holland began. “Just like many Brits, I had a very boozy December. Christmastime, I was on vacation and I was drinking a lot. I’ve always been able to drink a lot. I think I get my jeans from my mum’s side in that. I can drink. I decided to just give it up for January. I just wanted to do dry January and all I could think about was having a drink. It’s all I could think about. I was waking up thinking about it. I was checking the clock when’s it 12?”

“It just really scared me. I just was like, ‘Wow, maybe I have a little bit of an alcohol thing.’ So, I sort of decided to punish myself and say I’ll do February as well. I’ll do two months off. If I can do two months off, the I can prove to myself that I don’t have a problem,” the Marvel actor continued. “Two months go by and I was still really struggling. I felt like I couldn’t be social. I felt like I couldn’t go to the pub and have a lime soda. I couldn’t go out for dinner. I was really struggling and I started to really worry that maybe I had an alcohol problem.”

Tom Holland Extended His Sobriety Pledge

After those first few months, he decided that maybe extending his sobriety pledge out to his birthday might do the trick. The Spider-Man actor was surprised to discover that not only didn’t he miss drinking, his life had improved. It’s wild to think that such a small change could make a difference, but that’s exactly what happened!

“So, I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1st. I said to myself, ‘I can do six months without alcohol and the 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’ve ever been in my life. 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 so much better mental clarity. I felt healthier and fitter. I just sort of said to myself, ‘Why am I enslaved to this drink? Why am I so obsessed by the idea of having this drink?’”

Tom Holland Isn’t Telling Anyone What To Do

Despite the difference it’s made for the Marvel star, he’s not out here to evangelize his lifestyle. In effect, people have to make their own choices at the end of the day. But, to hear Holland tell it, the choice to abstain from alcohol has had a dramatic effect on his life. 

“I don’t want to be that person that’s saying to people, ‘you should get sober, you should get sober.’ If I could encourage someone to drink less, then that’s great,” Holland added. “But I don’t want to start getting into the world of ‘you need to stop drinking.’ Because, I just it’s not for me to say. I went on my own little journey. I’m really enjoying it. I’m delighted that my mum’s almost has also given up. She’s loving it and it’s been amazing. I can’t believe the difference that I feel from not drinking. Yeah I feel amazing”

Are you surprised that Tom Holland was willing to share this story? Let us know down in the comments!