The Crowded Room: Apple TV+ release date, trailer, and cast with Tom Holland, Amanda Seyfried, and Emmy Rossum

The Crowded Room, a new true (ish) crime drama starring Tom Holland, is coming to Apple TV+ this June.

The series, which also stars Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum, follows a young man accused of a crime he doesn’t remember committing. It’s inspired by the story of Billy Milligan, (though you might want to avoid looking him up before watching the series, as The Crowded Room treats the nature of his crime as a plot twist).

Here’s everything you need to know about The Crowded Room.

What is The Crowded Room about?

The official Apple TV+ synopsis for The Crowded Room explains that the series follows “Danny Sullivan, a man who is arrested following his involvement in a shooting in New York City in 1979.  Through a series of interviews with curious interrogator Rya Goodwin, Danny’s life story unfolds, revealing elements of the mysterious past that shaped him, and the twists and turns that will lead him to a life-altering revelation.”

Who stars in The Crowded Room?

Tom Holland plays Danny Sullivan, a young man arrested for his apparent involvement in a New York shooting. The Control Room marks Holland’s return to television after having previously appeared in the Hilary Mantel adaptation Wolf Hall; you might recognise him from film roles like The Impossible, In the Heart of the Sea, and Uncharted. (Oh, and also Spider-Man.)

Amanda Seyfried plays Rya Goodwin, the police investigator interrogating Danny. Seyfried recently received particular acclaim for playing Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, but you might also recognise her from roles in Mean Girls, Mamma Mia, and Jennifer’s Body. 

Emmy Rossum plays Candy Sullivan, Danny’s mother. Rossum, who is around ten years older than Holland, is best known for playing Fiona Gallagher in Shameless US. You might also recognise her from the television series Angelyne, or from films like The Day After Tomorrow and The Phantom of the Opera.

They’re joined by Will Chase (Nashville), Sasha Lane (Conversations with Friends), Christopher Abbott (Catch-22), Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery), and Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown) amongst others.

Who writes and directs The Crowded Room?

Akiva Goldsman wrote or co-wrote every episode of The Crowded Room. Goldsman, who in recent years has worked on a number of different Star Trek series, is probably best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the Russell Crowe film A Beautiful Mind. 

Kornél Mundruczó (Johanna) was lead director on The Control Room, with Mona Fastvold (The World to Come), Brady Corbet (Vox Lux), and Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) also directing a number of episodes each. 

Is there a trailer for The Crowded Room?

Yes, there is! You can watch it right here.

When and how can I watch The Crowded Room?

The Crowded Room will begin on Apple TV+ on Friday 9 June. The first three episodes will be available to stream at once, with new episodes available each week thereafter through to the series finale on Friday 28 July.

How many episodes are there?

The Crowded Room is a ten-episode limited series, with each instalment running to around an hour long.

Is The Crowded Room based on a true story? Is it based on a book?

Yes, it is. The Crowded Room draws heavily from Daniel Keyes’ 1981 non-fiction novel The Minds of Billy Milligan. You might want to avoid reading the book (or watching the recent Netflix documentary about Milligan, or even simply googling him) for a few weeks though, as The Crowded Room treats the historical significance of Milligan's crime as a plot twist.

The series departs from Milligan’s story in key ways – Milligan was arrested for rape and sexual assault, while Holland’s Crowded Room character Danny Sullivan is arrested for a shooting – but the majority of the details remain intact.  

Will there be a series 2?

Maybe. While The Crowded Room’s first series will cover Danny Sullivan’s story in full, the series has been referred to by Apple TV+ as the first instalment of an anthology series on several occasions – suggesting at least plans for the series to return again in future, presumably adapting other significant true crime stories.

Why should I watch The Crowded Room?

It’s one for Tom Holland completionists, curious about how he’s continuing to pivot away from Spider-Man and establish himself as a more mature actor. You might also want to check it out if you’re into true crime drama, or curious about the history of this particular case.