Emmy Rossum Will Play Tom Holland's Mother In Apple TV+ Series The Crowded Room

Emmy Rossum ("Shameless") has joined the cast of "The Crowded Room" with Tom Holland ("Spider-Man: No Way Home") and Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!"), according to THR. That's just one of the casting announcements today for the "seasonal anthology" thriller for Apple Studios, as Emma Laird ("Mayor of Kingstown"), Sasha Lane ("Loki") and Christopher Abbott ("Catch-22") have also joined the series.

"The Crowded Room" is described by Apple as a series that will "explore inspirational stories of those who have struggled, and learned to successfully live with, mental illness." The season will be directed and executive produced by "Pieces of a Woman" helmer Kornél Mundruczó. Akiva Goldsman will write and executive produce for Apple Studios and New Regency. We're getting 10 episodes in the first season. Holland will also serve as executive producer. 

The story for "The Crowded Room" is based in part on the book "The Minds of Billy Milligan" by Daniel Keyes, and is also based partly on Akiva Goldsman's own life. The award-winning book is about the first man acquitted of a major crime with the defense of dissociative identity disorder. 

Holland will play Danny Sullivan, the man with dissociative identity disorder, and Rossum will be playing his mother, "who is always looking for a man to fulfill her dreams of salvation." Before you freak out about the tiny age difference between Holland and Rossum (who is only ten years older than her on-screen son), "Roswell, New Mexico" writer Carina Adly MacKenzie pointed out on Twitter that this is because most of her scenes will be flashbacks to Danny's early childhood. 

Guys â€" Emmy Rossum is playing Tom Holland’s mom because the vast majority of her scenes are flashbacks to his character’s very early childhood when he endured the trauma that caused his Dissociative Identity Disorder. It started before he was 5 years old.

Okay, carry on.

— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) February 22, 2022

It is, of course, understandable that people would immediately wonder about the small age difference between Rossum and Holland. Hollywood has done this often; for instance, there is only a two year age difference between Elizabeth Rodriguez and Dascha Polanco, who played mother and daughter in "Orange is the New Black." In "Rocketman," Bryce Dallas Howard plays Taron Egerton's mother even though they're merely eight years apart. Perhaps the most famous example is Sally Field playing Tom Hanks' mother in "Forrest Gump," when she is only 10 years his senior.

Amanda Seyfried will be playing a clinical psychologist trying to deal with this very difficult case as well, as dealing with single motherhood. Emma Laird will play Danny's high school girlfriend, "and the only one to recognize his talent and heart."

Executive producers for the anthology series will include Suzanne Heathcote, Alexandra Milchan of EMJAG Productions, New Regency's Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, and Michael Schaefer. Goldsman will executive produce through his Weed Road Productions. 

"The Crowded Room" will begin shooting next month in New York.