Tom Holland On Keeping Relationship With Zendaya 'Sacred' And Possibly Starting A Family Someday

Tom Holland may be best known for playing a teen for five years as the MCU’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but the actor turned 27 this year, and in this phase of his life, it looks like he’s asking himself the bigger questions in life. As Holland continues to go strong with Zendaya, he recently spoke to why it’s important for the couple to keep their relationship outside of the spotlight, as well as opened up about his “dream” to become a dad someday. 

Holland and Zendaya may be one of the most talked about Hollywood couples, but the Spider-Man: No Way Home stars reportedly reside just miles away from his hometown in near London when they are not being whisked off in their careers. The actor opened up about his thoughts about being part of the movie industry, saying this: 

I really am a massive fan of making movies, but I really do not like Hollywood. It is not for me, the business really scares me. I understand that I am a part of that business and I enjoy my kind of interactions with it, but with 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.

Last year, the actor announced he’d be taking a step back from social media, and after wrapping No Way Home and his limited series The Crowded Room, he decided to take a break from acting after a whirlwind few years in the business, where he racked up over thirty acting credits in the matter of a decade. As Holland continued: 

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. And, I am just really, really keen to focus on what makes me happy, which is my family, my friends, it’s my carpentry, my golf, the charity that my mum runs, like that is the stuff that makes me really happy and that’s the stuff that I should protect. My relationship is the thing that I keep the 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. So, I do try to keep as removed from it as possible.

Tom Holland got candid about his mindset when it comes to being a public figure when in conversation on the Jay Shetty Podcast. As the actor expanded on, he only goes to an award show or red carpet if it’s directly involved with a project he’s a part of, and he really has no interest in being in Hollywood for the fame of it all.  

Despite Holland and Zendaya keeping things relatively private when it comes to their relationship, they are certainly beloved by their fans. Between the pair being spotted rocking out together at a Beyoncé concert recently or Holland talking about how his love of carpentry played into winning her heart, it feels as though everything they do has the potential to go viral. Holland sounds aware of this and finds it important to keep the connection close to the vest.

Earlier in the interview, Holland also spoke to how his upbringing at home has him excited at the possibility of starting a family one day. As he shared: 

Because our dad’s a comedian, his job only ever existed once we had gone to bed, and our mum worked from home, she was a photographer. So for us as kids, our parents didn’t really work, they were always home. So, we had this amazing foundation where no matter what time in the day, either mum or dad would be in the house and we felt so kind of solid as a family. Which is why like I kind of have this dream of one day having kids and putting my work to bed and just kind of being there as a dad. Because, I really admire how my dad was around. You know, being a comedian is a very, very volatile job. The highs and lows are so extreme, and as kids we never saw that. The only version of my dad I ever saw was the happy dad.

Holland had a positive family environment that he said always made him feel “connected” and “safe,” so perhaps someday we’ll see the actor become a father himself. Check out the entire conversation in full context below: 

If Holland does ever start a family, based on these comments, I imagine he’ll be one of a growing list of celebrities who don’t expose their children to the Hollywood of it all (as much as they can anyway). Either way, Holland sounds like he has a really grounded perspective on his career and how it intertwines with his personal life. You can check out his latest role in The Crowded Room, now streaming with an Apple TV+ subscription

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.