LOS ANGELES – Actor Tom Holland has come a long way since his days as a boy growing up in London and being bullied by schoolmates for taking ballet lessons.

After being talent-spotted at a dance class at age nine, he was cast in a 2008 West End production of Billy Elliot: The Musical and promoted to the title role a few years later.

Now a global superstar for playing Spider-Man in half a dozen Marvel films, including Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which each grossed more than US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) worldwide, the 27-year-old English performer has shifted gears to take on darker and more psychologically complex roles.

He tells The Straits Times he has grown more confident in his ability to make “executive decisions” about his career, which he is keen to expand far beyond his Spider-Man resume.

One such decision involved getting an unflattering 1970s haircut for the upcoming Apple TV+ psychological thriller The Crowded Room, even though that meant defying the studio to do so and getting trolled on social media for the hairdo.

Debuting on Friday, the 10-episode limited series sees Holland play Danny Sullivan, a man whose state of mind comes into question when he is accused of a violent crime in 1970s New York.

The story is based on a shocking real-life case documented in the acclaimed non-fiction book, The Minds Of Billy Milligan (1981). It also stars Amanda Seyfried as the woman who interrogates Danny after his arrest and uncovers his past.

During a Zoom interview with reporters to discuss the show, the actor acknowledges that he seems to be drawn to troubled characters in recent years.

For instance, he played a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder in Cherry (2021) and a violent young man in The Devil All The Time (2020), both crime dramas.

But “I’ve never really thought of it in that way, that I am chasing characters with these ailments”, says the star.

“I love a great story, I love a great challenge, I love working with great people, and The Crowded Room offered all of those things. So I don’t know if there’s a correlation between the three, but I’m delighted you’ve picked up on that.”

Holland, who is also an executive producer on this series, says he “went for it” when it came to creating Danny’s look, which he came up with after looking at scores of photos of men in New York in the 1970s.

“The studio wouldn’t really allow me to cut my hair in the way we did and, ultimately, I just took an executive decision to say, ‘I’m going to do it anyway.’ 

“I think Apple were maybe hesitant because it was a huge departure from the way I look in real life,” he explains.

“But I just felt it was so important with a character like this to disappear into his life as much as possible and be authentic to the period.” 

The executives were not thrilled, however.

“I do remember showing up to the camera test, and there were some rather unhappy faces, but I think they came around in the end.

“Because I really think this is how the character should look and I trust my judgment,” the actor says. 

And he has grown more “confident in making those decisions” as his career has progressed.

Having worked with long-time make-up artist Rachael Speke for five or six films, he feels they have always done a good job. “It’s always in service of the (project) we’re working on,” says Holland.

“And I think the hair is the icing on the cake for this character,” adds the star, who also loved the period costumes so much that he kept the flared jeans and other clothes his character wears.

Holland, who is dating the Emmy-winning American actress and singer Zendaya, 26, his Spider-Man: Homecoming co-star, is also very aware of the need to keep his career growing outside the Spider-Man franchise.

“I love playing Spider-Man, and (Spider-Man’s alter ego) Peter Parker is, I feel, like my best friend. He changed my life,” he says.

But in the “strategic conversations” he has with his agents, the goal is “not to get put into one box”.

“And I love challenging myself (with different kinds of projects), so it’s something we actively try to achieve.”

The Crowded Room debuts on Apple TV+ on Friday.