Spider-Man appears to have a lot more in common with Tony Stark than fans might have thought. During a new interview with Jay Shetty, Tom Holland, who has played the character for Marvel Studios since Captain America: Civil War (2016), revealed that he has been struggling with alcoholism, stating that he felt “enslaved” by it only until recently, when he stopped drinking in 2022. “It’s honestly been the best thing that I’ve ever done,” Holland, who also stars as Nathan Drake in Sony’s live-action adaptation of Uncharted, mentioned.
I’m happy to say it — I was definitely addicted to alcohol. I’m not shying away from that at all. It’s interesting. I didn’t one day wake up and say, ‘I’m giving up drinking’. I, just like many Brits, had a very, very boozy December. I’ve always been able to drink a lot.
All I could think about was having a drink. I was waking up thinking about it. I was checking the clock, when’s it 12 PM?. It just really scared me.
By the time I got to June 1 [Dry January in 2022], 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, I felt fitter.
I would go to events for work, and I can’t enjoy myself until I’ve had a few beers. I just felt so much pressure.
Because it’s so socially acceptable, the addiction side of it, the bad sides of it really do fly under the radar. It’s honestly been the best thing that I’ve ever done.
Once I really started feeling the health benefits and once I really started feeling like my full self, I was like ‘Oh my God, this is the best’.
I don’t want to be that person who’s saying ‘You should get sober, you should get sober! [But] if I could encourage someone to drink less, that would be great.