He may be used to swinging between skyscrapers as Spider-Man, but in a candid new interview, Tom Holland has revealed the surprisingly simple mental trick he uses to combat the very real pressures of global stardom. The secret, it turns out, is all about the “brainwashing” power of a roller coaster.
During a recent appearance on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s YouTube show, Scrambled, the conversation turned from cooking to coping. Holland, known for his charming and seemingly effortless demeanor, was asked by Ramsay how he handles the immense stress that comes with his career.
“How do you deal with that kind of pressure, because you make it look seamless,” Ramsay inquired, voicing what many fans have likely wondered about the A-list actor.
Holland didn’t miss a beat, launching into an explanation of a powerful piece of advice he received years ago that fundamentally changed his approach to fear and anxiety.
“Well, I’ve always had this thing,” Holland began. “The best advice I ever got was from a director I worked with as a kid. He said ‘Describe the feeling of queuing up for a roller coaster.’ And he said ‘Imagine that feeling.’ And how would you describe that feeling? And I said, ‘Oh, that’s excitement.’”
The director then pivoted, asking Holland to apply the same thinking to his craft.
“So then he said, ‘Imagine that you’re going on stage. Describe that feeling for me.’ ‘Oh, it’s nerve-wracking,’” Holland recalled saying. The director pressed further: “‘Now describe the actual physical feeling of it.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, they’re the same.’”
The revelation was a lightbulb moment for the young actor. The sweaty palms, the racing heart, the butterflies in the stomach—the physical symptoms of anxiety are identical to those of thrilling excitement. The only difference is the label we assign them.
“So I’ve just spent my entire life kind of brainwashing myself to believe that when I’m nervous, I’m just really excited,” Holland concluded with a smile.
This mental sleight-of-hand, a technique known in psychology as cognitive reframing, has clearly served him well. From his early days on the London stage in Billy Elliot the Musical to headlining the multi-billion dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe and navigating a high-profile relationship with co-star Zendaya, Holland has lived under a microscope. This simple yet profound shift in perspective allows him to channel potential anxiety into positive energy.
So the next time you feel those pre-presentation jitters or first-date fears, just take a page out of Spider-Man’s book: you’re not nervous, you’re just queuing up for the roller coaster.