Tom Holland has had quite the year. The British actor has swung back into action as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day while also appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey. The two films could hardly be more different, yet Holland somehow makes both look perfectly natural.
After all, this is the man who has spent years convincing us that he is a charming neighborhood superhero while also proving he can handle considerably darker material.
And if you’ve recently seen those very substantial thighs swinging around in 3D as Spider-Man, you may want to revisit one of Holland’s most unexpected roles: The Crowded Room.
READ: Spiderman in a Towel? Say Less.
Welcome to Holland’s Twink Era
Released in 2023, The Crowded Room gave us a very different Holland. Think tiny waist, long curly hair, eyeliner, a dance floor and an altogether more chaotic energy than anything Peter Parker would probably get up to.
The Apple TV+ psychological thriller stars Holland as Danny Sullivan, a young man arrested following a shooting in 1979 Manhattan. As an investigator digs into his past, the series gradually reveals the complicated circumstances surrounding Danny and his dissociative identity disorder.
Then things get decidedly more interesting for our gay little corner of the internet.
Danny is shown flirting and dancing with a man before the pair disappear into a public bathroom for a sexual encounter. The scene sparked plenty of conversation online at the time, particularly among fans who apparently weren’t prepared to see their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in such an adult situation.
Suddenly, Peter Parker’s wholesome image feels a little less wholesome.
The Role That Actually Broke Him
As entertaining as it is to revisit Holland’s curly-haired, eyeliner-wearing era, the experience behind The Crowded Room was anything but lighthearted.
This is just insanity pic.twitter.com/i491xKdKYY
— 🐾🌟🕷️ (@roratosy) August 19, 2026
Holland has been candid about how difficult the production became. He wasn’t simply starring in the series; he was also an executive producer, meaning he was dealing with the creative and practical pressures of making the show while simultaneously inhabiting an emotionally demanding character.
After filming wrapped, Holland announced that he was taking a year away from acting. That makes the role considerably more fascinating in hindsight. Behind the eyeliner, curls, and scandalous bathroom encounter was an actor pushing himself into territory he found genuinely difficult.
From Twink to Blockbuster King
Fast-forward to 2026 and Holland is firmly back in blockbuster territory.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has become one of the year’s biggest cinematic phenomena, crossing $2 billion worldwide after just three weekends and becoming only the eighth film ever to reach that milestone. It has also overtaken Spider-Man: No Way Home to become the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie and Sony release.
Which brings us full circle.
Today, Holland is filling enormous screens as Peter Parker and starring in Nolan’s The Odyssey. But for anyone who wants to see the actor before the superhero muscles fully took over, The Crowded Room offers a fascinating reminder that Holland has never been afraid to get uncomfortable for a role.
And yes, that twink era came with a very memorable bathroom break.