Tom Holland Reveals His Health Diagnosis That Makes Acting ‘Intimidating’

Tom Holland is opening up about how his ADHD and dyslexia affect his life and career. While promoting LEGO’s new short film “Never Stop Playing”, the 29-year-old Spider-Man star revealed that starting fresh with a new character can sometimes feel overwhelming.

“I have ADHD and I’m dyslexic, and I find sometimes when someone gives me a blank canvas that it can be slightly intimidating,” Holland told IGN. “And sometimes you are met with those challenges when developing a character.”

The actor credited play and creativity as tools that help him manage those challenges. “Play really does help,” he explained. “Any way that you can, as a young person or as an adult, interact with something that forces you to be creative and forces you to think outside the box … just promotes healthy creativity.”

In the two-minute LEGO short, Holland transforms into a wide range of characters, from a soccer player to a sci-fi hero to even a LEGO minifigure. His brothers Harry and Sam also appear as reporters, which Holland said was a rare chance to work with them onscreen. “They presented an opportunity of something that I could do with my brothers, which was really fun and not something that happens every day,” he said, joking, “Prada weren’t as keen to have Harry and Sam as LEGO were.”

A History of Being Honest About Mental Health

This isn’t the first time Holland has been candid about personal struggles. According to People, he first spoke about his dyslexia in 2023, telling Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast that his challenges were mostly tied to spelling. Now, by sharing his ADHD diagnosis publicly for the first time, he continues to shed light on how he navigates both conditions in his acting career.

In 2022, Holland also announced a social media hiatus, explaining that Instagram and Twitter left him “overstimulating” and “overwhelming.” He admitted that reading comments online often caused him to spiral, which became “very detrimental” to his mental state. At the time, he deleted the apps and used his brief return to spotlight Stem4, a mental health charity supported by his organization The Brothers Trust. “There is an awful stigma against mental health and I know that asking for help and seeking help isn’t something we should be ashamed of,” he said in his post.

Sobriety and Balance

Holland has also been outspoken about his relationship with alcohol. After taking part in Dry January in 2022, he realized how much he relied on drinking to socialize. “Every Friday after work was a write-off: let’s get drunk and have a good time,” he told Men’s Health. “I didn’t have bad experiences, but I would drink enough that I would ruin my next day.”

He extended his sobriety month by month, eventually marking three years alcohol-free. The actor credited support from family, friends, and colleagues, as well as advice from his lawyer: “You’ll never wake up the morning after a night out and wish you had a drink.” Earlier this year, he launched his own non-alcoholic beer line, Bero, featuring three varieties, including Noon Wheat — named after the dog he shares with fiancée Zendaya.

From stepping away from social media to going sober and now speaking openly about ADHD and dyslexia, Holland has consistently prioritized his mental health. As he put it in his 2022 Instagram post while announcing a social media break: “Love to you all, and let’s get talking about mental health.”

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