While The Crowded Room has generated buzz, it is for all the wrong reasons. The bone of contention is that Emmy Rossum, best known for Shameless, has been enlisted to play the role of Tom Holland’s mother. She is only 10 years older than Holland.
Tom Holland is currently one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, and for good reason. His popularity is at an all time high, and his presence in a movie, even if it is not associated with a franchise, lends it a popularity it would not have had otherwise.
It was recently announced that Tom Holland will be seen in The Crowded Room, an Apple TV+ thriller drama anthology series in which he will essay the role of Danny Sullivan, a man who has multiple personalities. The character is said to be based on the American felon Billy Milligan, who was the first person to be acquitted because he suffered from dissociative identity disorder.
While the project has generated buzz, it is for all the wrong reasons. You see, Emmy Rossum, best known for Shameless, has been enlisted to play the role of Sullivan’s mother. This is despite Rossum being only 10 years older than Holland.
The announcement has left TV buffs on social media sites divided. However, many are bemused about the casting, saying it is Hollywood’s classic old sexist in action. Words like “Sexist” and “ageist” are hurled at the makers.
One was succinct in their objection. “Emmy Rossum is 35. Tom Holland is 25. What is this nonsense!?” they wrote.
One joked, “Emmy Rossum is 35 and Tom Holland is 25. I have to assume the focus of this film is the trauma of Emmy’s character giving birth at age 10.”
However, a writer called Carina Adly Mackenzie cleared the air by saying most of Rossum’s scenes in the series will be in flashbacks.
“Guys — Emmy Rossum is playing Tom Holland’s mom because the vast majority of her scenes are flashbacks to his character’s very early childhood when he endured the trauma that caused his Dissociative Identity Disorder. It started before he was 5 years old. Okay, carry on,” she tweeted.
Meanwhile, Holland was last seen in the video-game adaptation Uncharted, which released earlier this month. He earlier reprised the role of Peter Parker or Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home, a box office phenomenon.
