A new casting decision in Hollywood has fans scratching their heads in confusion. Emmy Rossum, 35, was cast in the upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series The Crowded Room on Feb. 22, opposite Tom Holland, 25. Emmy will play Candy Sullivan, according to Deadline, while Tom will star as Candy’s son, Danny Sullivan. The actors are only 10 years apart in age, so naturally, fans took to Twitter to question why the Shameless alum is playing a mom to the Spider-Man: No Way Home star in this new project.
“Emmy Rossum is 35. Why on earth is she playing Tom Holland’s mother??” one fan said in disbelief. Another wrote, “I do like Emmy Rossum but why hire a 35 year old woman to play the mother of a 25 year old? Why not hire an older actress? Just a thought!”
A different fan who was also unhappy about Emmy and Tom’s casting dynamic called out Hollywood via Twitter to “stop casting young women as the mothers of men who are like less than 10 years their junior when we’re still casting men who are 55 as leads who romance 25 year old women.”
I'm sorry isn't Emmy Rossum like …. my age? Stop casting young women as the mothers of men who are like less than 10 years their junior when we're still casting men who are 55 as leads who romance 25 year old women. https://t.co/XYZS05UMX4
— Krakenzuela THEE Book Witch 📚🧙🏻♀️ (@VictoriaNoir89) February 22, 2022
Hollywood really has Emmy Rossum playing Tom Holland's mama… pic.twitter.com/7xB6QvRBaG
— LaToya Morgan (@MorganicInk) February 22, 2022
Clearly, fans aren’t loving this casting decision. But some people did point out that Emmy may not be playing Tom’s mother in the present day storyline in the show, but rather in flashback sequences. “I’m just gonna assume Emmy Rossum plays Tom Holland’s momma in a flashback … because otherwise I’m gonna turn to dust in my chairIf that’s the case,” one person said on Twitter. Well, if the flashback situation is true, then this all makes much more sense.
The Crowded Room will feature 10 episodes and “will explore inspirational stories of those who have struggled with mental illness and learned to live successfully with it,” according to Deadline. Tom’s character, Danny, is loosely based on Billy Milligan, the first person acquitted of a crime because of multiple-personality disorder. Amanda Seyfried also stars as Rya, a clinical psychologist.