Tom Holland Does "Not Like Hollywood" And The Business "Scares Him"

Thanks to Spiderman, Tom Holland is undoubtedly one of the most well-known actors today. His career skyrocketed after landing a six-picture contract with Marvel Studios to play the young Peter Parker. Since then, Holland has appeared in several blockbuster films, including Uncharted and The Devil All the Time. While his life as a famous actor seems unrelatable to most, there is one thing that Holland has in common with most of us –
his displeasure with Hollywood.

The #MeToo movement shows us that something darker lurks behind the screens. Recently, several celebrities have come forward to recount their tales of sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood, but the mistreatment of actors in the filmdom was no secret. Women like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Lana Turner were known to have suffered under MGM and the abuse of powerful men. We'd all like to believe that show business has improved since then, but Holland's aversion to Hollywood seems to hint that it has not.

Recently, the Spiderman star went candid with Jay Shetty on the On Purpose podcast. According to the 27-year-old actor, he does not like Hollywood and tries his best to avoid the culture. "I really do not like Hollywood, it is not for me," he says. "The business really scares me. I understand that I'm a part of that business, and I enjoy my kind of interactions with it. But that said, I am always looking for ways to kind of remove myself from it, to kind of just live as normal a life as possible. Today, doing this [podcast] is a very rare thing for me to do."

Holland explains that people have lost themselves to fame – including his friends. "I definitely think it has been an ongoing thought, which is don't lose yourself," he adds. "I've seen so many people come before me and lose themselves, and I've had friends that I've grown up with that aren't friends of mine anymore, because they've lost themselves to this business."

"I just am really, really keen to focus on what makes me happy, which is my family, it's my friends. It's my carpentry, my golf, the charity that my mom runs. Like, that is the stuff that makes me really happy, and that's the stuff that I should protect."

He then talks about his relationship with (presumably) Zendaya, which he finds sacred and important. "My relationship is the thing that I keep most sacred, I don't talk about it. I try my best to keep it as private as possible, we both feel very strongly that that is the healthiest way for us to move on as a couple."

Unlike the Kardashians, who seem to leave their mark at every high-profile event, Holland says that you'll never see him at an award show that he doesn't have to be at. "I'm never going to a red carpet event that I'm not in the film of, you know. I don't want the attention when I don't need it," he adds.

Holland may not have given us too many details on why exactly Hollywood "scares" him, and for a lot of us, it's hard to imagine what the lavish parties and on-set activities entail. But given what we know about its history of abuse, we can make assumptions. In late 2022, Insecure's Issa Rae called Hollywood "the worst industry" because it failed to hold anyone accountable for their "misdeeds and actions." "People have to be held accountable. There have to be legitimate consequences," she said at the time. "Hollywood is very bad about consequences. It’s literally the worst industry when it comes to punishing people for misdeeds and actions, because money will always reign supreme."

She continued, "That’s something that, even by working in this industry, we’re enabling. So it’s hard. What I have realized is that I can control my own environment and who I work with. I can hold people accountable within my world and my bubble. I don’t have to work for everybody. All money isn’t good money. All people aren’t good people.” Then again, many believe the industry comprises close-knit, powerful individuals who conceal Hollywood's inner functions. So despite Rae's efforts to be outspoken in such a hush-hush environment, it's probably safe to say that Hollywood won't change anytime soon.

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