Tom Holland Reflects On Alcohol Addiction & Why He Felt “Enslaved”
Tom Holland is opening up about what pushed him to lead a sober life and how he felt “enslaved” to alcohol at one point.
During an appearance on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Holland talked about his addiction to alcohol and at what moment he decided to make a change in his life.
“I’m happy to say it — I was definitely addicted to alcohol. I’m not shying away from that at all,” he said on the show.
He added, “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.”
The star of Apple TV+’s The Crowded Room said he took up the “Dry January” challenge at the beginning of 2022 and gave up on alcohol for the holidays.
“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 p.m.?” he said adding that “it just really scared me.”
Holland continued with the challenge and further dared himself to not drink until his birthday in June.
“By the time I got to June 1, I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” he noted. “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.”
Holland then questioned himself, “Why am I so enslaved by this drink? Why am I so obsessed by the idea of having this drink?” In reflecting on why he drank, the Spider-Man star said that he recognized “that I would go to events for work, and I can’t enjoy myself until I’ve had a few beers, and I just felt so much pressure.”
Following his year and a half of sobriety, Holland says he’s not the person to tell anyone what to do but if he “could encourage someone to drink less, that would be great.”
Watch Holland’s full interview in the video posted below.
Source: Deadline
