As Tom Holland reflects on a year sobriety, a look at six actors who took inspiration from their roles

Actors may go to great lengths to embody a character from drastically changing weight to learning a brand new skill, but for some, the role itself teaches and inspires the actors more about themselves.

Reflecting on his most recent part for the Apple TV series ‘The Crowded Room’, Tom Holland vowed to prioritise his mental health after learning to notice his ‘triggers’ and has now been sober for one year and four months.

Mostly known for being the ‘friendly neighbourhood Spiderman’ which was physically demanding, Tom told Entertainment Weekly that the mental aspect of acting ‘really beat [him] up’ and proved difficult to manage, especially while playing Danny Sullivan in The Crowded Room.

Based on a true story, the series follows the antisocial and troubled teen who was arrested following a shooting at Rockefeller Centre in 1979, and nine months into filming, Tom began finding it hard to detach from Danny.

He said: “I was seeing myself in him, but in my personal life, I remember having a bit of a meltdown at home and thinking, like, ‘I’m going to shave my head. I need to shave my head because I need to get rid of this character’…It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”

Tom began speaking to professional psychiatrists as well as his Apple TV co-star to not only understand his character’s thoughts but to also pinpoint his own ‘triggers’ such as social media. This led to Tom taking a social media break nine months ago.

While it is not known what Tom Holland has given up in terms of his sobriety, the 26-year-old hopes the show, out 9 June, will inspire people to ‘have more respect and sympathy’ for those affected by mental health struggles.

In light of Tom’s revelations, PeopleWorld takes a look at six other actors who have changed their lives after learning from their roles.

Jennifer Garner

The 2016 film Miracles from Heaven inspired Jennifer Garner to find her own ‘miracles’ by reigniting her religious beliefs and taking her children to weekly church services, as she did as a child in Virginia.

Jennifer said: “When I did move to L.A., it wasn't something that was just part of the culture in the same way, at least in my life…so it was a great gift of this film that it took us back to finding our local Methodist church and going every Sunday."

Don Cheadle

Don Cheadle’s Oscar-nominated performance in Hotel Rwanda certainly made an impact as the now 58-year-old is an author of the book, ‘Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond’ as well as a board member of the charity Not On Our Watch.

The inspiration for urging US Citizens and governments to take action for nations in need came after Don visited Uganda, Rwanda and Sudan, and spoke to survivors of genocide, rape and forced evacuations.

Robert Downey Jr

There are ‘stark’ similarities between Robert Downey Jr and Tony Stark/Iron Man since his demise in Avengers: Endgame as the actor became an ambassador for technology that cleans up the planet.

Speaking about The Footprint Coalition, RDJ said: “Between robotics and nanotechnology, we could clean up the planet significantly, if not totally, in 10 years. God I love experts. They’re like Wikipedia with character defects.”

Angelina Jolie

The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider franchise changed Angelina Jolie’s life as she subsequently became a UN Goodwill Ambassador in 2001 and founded numerous charities to help refugee and immigrant children.

Within a decade of wrapping on the film, Angelina had visited over 20 countries to raise awareness and supply aids, and has since been awarded several prizes for her efforts.

Brie Larson

From Tom Holland’s ‘The Crowded Room’ to Brie Larson’s ‘The Room’. The latter Marvel actress emerged from her role as a mother who survived sexual abuse and kidnapping with a powerful voice for survivors. 

Some of Brie’s most powerful moments since The Room came at the Oscars. Firstly when she won an Oscar for Best Actress and hugged all 50 sexual abuse survivors who joined Lady Gaga on stage for her performance of The Hunting Ground, before refusing to applaud Casey Affleck when he won his Oscar in 2017 following his legal battles where two employees sued the actor for sexual harassment.

A year later, Brie teamed up with 300 other women for Time’s Up to protect from discrimination and harassment.

James Cromwell

James Cromwell explained he went ‘the full hog’ in going vegan after filming the smash hit Babe in 1995.

James was predominantly vegetarian but switched to the vegan lifestyle when he was disturbed by sitting down to eat lunch after filming with farmyard ‘relatives’ all day.

The role inspired him so much that he was arrested in 2017 for protesting against SeaWorld’s treatment of orcas with PETA.