Emmy Rossum defends playing Tom Holland’s mom in series despite being just nine years older than him

Emmy Rossum has defended her casting as Tom Holland’s mum, despite only being nine years older than him.

The 36-year-old is starring alongside the actor in The Crowded Room, a taut drama about a young man being accused of a crime he doesn’t remember committing.

Despite their small age gap, Rossum has insisted that the relationship made ‘sense’ when she read the script.

Set to air on Apple TV later this month, the mini-series is inspired by a true story.

The series opens in the summer of 1979 with Danny Sullivan (Holland) arrested for a shocking shooting at the Rockefeller Center.

The tense psychological drama then plays out across ten episodes, with investigator Rya Goodwin (Seyfried) trying to unlock Sullivan’s memory surrounding the event.

Hinting at what's in store for viewers, Rossum told Entertainment Weekly: "It's a show that will take you on twists and turns — you'll never know where you are or what's going on — and then it will all come to a miraculous conclusion toward the end.

"It's a story about heartbreak. It's a story about love. It's a story about betrayal. And, most of all, it's a story about a young kid's determination to survive."

Apple TV

While the upcoming drama has plenty of reasons to make viewers interrogate what they are seeing on screen, some have questioned why the Shameless actor has been cast as Holland’s mum – especially as she only nine years older than him.

However, The Day After Tomorrow star has insisted that it made ‘sense’ when she read the script.

"Candy's a super young mom, she's almost a child in her own right when she becomes pregnant at age 16,” Rossum explained. “You watch as I age from 25 to 35, which is actually younger than I am now."

She also revealed that she’d fallen in love with the characters, meaning Rossum was eager to land the role alongside the Spider-Man actor.

Continuing, she added: "I was so taken with the series and really just loved all my scenes, especially with young Danny [played by Zachary Golinger]. Our relationship was so beautiful and so I knew everything that we had that I had lost in the scenes with Tom. [It] was really fun."

It seems that age really is just a number when you’ve got this incredible cast.

The Crowded Room is out June 9 on Apple TV.

Topics: Tom Holland, Film and TV, Celebrity

Katherine Sidnell

Katherine is an entertainment journalist with a love of all things nerdy. Starting out writing Doctor Who fan fiction as a kid, she has gone on to interview the likes of Matt Damon, James May and Dua Lipa to name a few. Published in The Sun, The Daily Mail and Evening Standard - she now joins Ladbible as resident nerd in chief.

@ksidnell