Tom Holland discloses his journey of quitting alcohol: “I was struggling without booze”

Post Dry January 2022, the actor has vouched to maintain his goal of no drinking.

By Sneha Sengupta On Oct 18, 2024

Tom Holland talked about his decision to give up booze in 2022 following an enlightening Dry January experience. The 28-year-old star talked about how “I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how much I was struggling without booze in that first month — and it really scared me” on a podcast episode of Rich Roll on October 17.

“I decided, as a sort of punishment to myself, that I would do February as well as January. It was no easier. If anything, it got a little bit harder. So I was starting to kind of panic, thinking, ‘Damn. I have a bit of an alcohol thing.’”

He elucidated that he had a “upsetting conversation” with his doctor regarding his liver, which made him realize that he might be dealing with a more serious problem “Wow, maybe I have a bit of an issue here.”

“I got through March and started to feel a little bit better, but was still really struggling,” he stated. “If I can make it to June 1st, which is my birthday, and I can do six months without booze, I will have then proved to myself that I don’t have a problem. I’m just young and enjoying a drink.”

As the Spider-Man star reached his birthday, he noticed some optimism, “I really started feeling the benefits of a sober life. I started sleeping better. I was handling stressful situations better. My relationship [with Zendaya] was better. My relationship with my family was better. My relationship with my work was better.”

The actor added “By the time I’d crossed that annual mark, I was done. I was like, ‘I’m never gonna drink again because this is the best version of myself.’”

“It was my go-to to celebrate, and my go-to to commiserate,” he stated. Being an actor he was compelled to indulge in the drinking habit quite often “You always have a reason to be drinking. Or, I felt like I always had a reason to be drinking.”

Although Holland explained that he was “never a bad drunk,” he admitted that once he got going, he couldn’t stop. He remarked, “I wasn’t the type of person that could nip to the pub for a pint”. “I wanted to lock the door behind me.” When he came to the realization that “I polished off a mini-bar one too many times,” his relationship with alcohol deteriorated.

Tom Holland