Tom Holland on (Almost) Four Years of Sobriety, His Fragrance Rules, and 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'

I’m sitting across a small table from Tom Holland, who I’m sure you recognize as either the actor who was just seen swinging from buildings in Glasglow filming Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brady New Day, Zendaya’s fiancé, or the founder of the non-alcoholic beer company, Bero. In fact, he’s drinking one of the latter’s Noon Wheats right now. But this Sunday afternoon, we’re meeting at the former Fotografiska building in New York City because the 29-year-old actor is taking on another role as Prada Beauty Global Ambassador and the face of Prada’s new refillable fragrance, Paradigme.

Paradigme is a smoky, woody scent with top notes of bergamot and geranium. As Holland states in the advertisement, directed by Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round), the scent's philosophy was built on finding “another way” to view masculinity that isn’t overly rough or hyper-sexualized.

“I was always kind of scared of doing a perfume,” Holland tells me. “I never wanted to be in one of those commercials that was sort of overtly sexual in nature. And when I sat down with Prada, they pitched me the idea and it felt like an authentic representation of who I was.” The actor spends the video hiking, taking photos—likely a cheeky nod to Peter Parker—and tap dancing in an artist’s studio. (For now, it’s just a little taste of his upcoming Fred Astaire biopic).

Later in the night, Paradigme bottles were stacked wall-to-wall at a launch event bathed in the fragrance’s neon green glow. I packed into an elevator and spotted stylist Law Roach as the doors opened to a bass-pounding DJ set. Then, guests were ushered to a room where I saw Anthony Ramos try to catch a bubble of perfume that popped out of a hole in the ceiling. PinkPantheress stopped by for a surprise performance. (Honestly, wild stuff.)

During my time with Holland—several hours before—he spoke generously about his collaboration with Prada, sitting in pitch meetings for the fourth Spider-Man film, and coming up on three and a half years of sobriety.

"I was always kind of scared of doing a perfume," Holland tells me.

ESQUIRE: I just tried my first Bero last month. My first non-alcoholic beer ever, actually. It tasted just like it. You’re doing some amazing beer science over there.

HOLLAND: Oh, nice man! What flavor did you try?

The one with the green bottom. The Pilsner.

Yeah. Thanks for trying it. I appreciate that.

I also want to say congrats—how does it feel now that you’re coming up on, what is it now, four years of sobriety?

Yeah, I'm three and a half years now. It feels amazing, a little bit like a brand-new identity almost. And Bero is going really well. I’m really proud of it. Every day we're making big steps in the right direction, and we're growing every day—thinking of new ways to innovate and coming up with new ideas for products. We have some exciting stuff that we're developing for the winter of this year and the summer of next year, which I'm really excited about. But yeah, it's an ever-changing, ever-growing process.

So, I’m brand new to the fragrance world. What are some tips and tricks I should know?

That’s kind of me, too. I just do one or two on my neck, one on my wrist, and then that's it. I've only just recently found out that they do an intense version and then a lighter version of the perfume. I just sat down with the perfumers [Marie Salamagne, Bruno Jovanovic, and Nicolas Bonneville], and I was really blown away by the amount of work that goes into it. They've been developing this for two years. It’s a really, really detailed endeavor.

I just did one spritz this morning. I feel worried about over-doing it.

Yeah, I can get a little bit fragrance shy about, Am I wearing too much? I think it's just trial and error, really. I typically always forget to wear a fragrance. I travel a lot, and it’s annoyingly—they always come in bottles that are bigger than a hundred milliliters, so you can't travel with them. I hope that people just enjoy the film, and I like this idea of new age masculinity and, What does that mean? I don't think any of us have the answers to it, but it's a really interesting question and I love being a part of that.

What was it like working with Thomas Vinterberg? I loved Another Round.

I was incredibly excited to work with Thomas. I've always been a fan of his movies and having him involved with the film for Prada Paradigme—there was such a creative integrity that I wanted to be a part of. He's just everything that you would want him to be. He's very kind and courteous. He has a really strong sense of what he wants from you as an actor. He's very complimentary, which is really nice, and ultimately, I loved working with him. I'm really proud of the film that we did.

You've always been selective with who you collaborate with. Is there something about Prada that just makes you feel comfortable? I know you work with them a lot.

I really like Prada. They're very, very friendly and they are really amenable. They never cease to put me in great clothes for red carpets. I always feel really confident in stuff that they get me to wear. I've worked with them for a number of years now and would love to continue the relationship.

I was thinking maybe it gets a little musty in the Spider-Man suit and you needed a fragrance to cover it up.

Yeah, it definitely does. I probably get a new suit every two weeks, I reckon.

Holland, currently filming ’Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ in Glasglow, Scotland.

I read that you were doing some research ahead of Spider-Man: Brand New Day to find out what fans wanted in a fourth Spider-Man film. But I’d love to know what you’re personally hoping to see from another go as Spidey?

For me, I want to do justice to Peter Parker's character. I want to bring the fans something that's really worthy of their time, and I’m very grateful for their investment in our franchise. I don't mean financially, I mean the time to go to the cinema three times. That's a big ask.

I did a lot of sneaky research online—looking at what people were saying in the interim between Spider-Man: No Way Home and now Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I really just kind of put together a vibe of what people were looking for and went to Marvel and said, “This is what I think we should be doing.” And I think that's exactly what we are doing. So, it's been a really fun process developing the movie. It's the first time I've ever been allowed in that part of the process, and it's definitely a stressful experience. But I think where we've got to, now that we're shooting, we are shooting absolute gold.

Does it feel validating to be in that room, and help shape the film?

I think so. I have such a good understanding of who Peter Parker is, and I have been so lucky that the fan base has been so vocal about what they love from the franchise. We've been able to really lean into those things and capitalize on those things. So, I love standing up for the character, being in the room, and making sure that the decisions we make are what's best for Peter Parker because he really does feel like one of my best friends. It's a really weird experience diving into the character again. It just feels like you're hanging out with an old pal.