Andrew Garfield is a popular name among cinephiles for his amazing portfolio of films. He is a charismatic and versatile actor who has branched out his acting chops, ranging from playing a superhero, a Catholic missionary, and an aspiring composer. His films like Never Let Me Go, The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and Tick, Tick… Boom! have made him one of the best actors of the current generation.
He is best known for playing Peter Parker/ Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel. Taking on the huge responsibility of playing a beloved superhero felt daunting at the time. But Garfield was ready to take on the challenge, while at the same time having other concerns with regards to fame and being typecast.
Andrew Garfield Feared Playing Spider-Man Would Limit Theater Roles
Andrew Garfield‘s first love is theater, as he has time and again expressed his love for playing live for his spectators. While taking on Spider-Man, he was concerned with whether that would limit his theater gigs and other opportunities. He was also concerned with overexposure and the huge boost in fame and popularity that he would get after playing Spider-Man. He told GQ,
“But still young, though. I feel that about myself as a 26-year-old. I’m like, F**k, that was a lot to take on. It’s a sh*t-tonne to take on. And I wanted to take it on. I was ready. I was so up for it. It didn’t feel heavy. But I think there were elements that felt very… I sensed danger for myself, in terms of fame and exposure. Even as I took [The Amazing Spider-Man] on, I was like, I wanna make sure I get to do Angels in America and Death of a Salesman in a few years’ time.
I wanna be a theater actor first, because that feels evergreen. If I can do theatre for the rest of my life to an audience of 50 people a night, I know that my life is going to be satisfying.”
Garfield is a committed and dedicated actor, and thus, he would not have enjoyed it if he was stuck playing Spider-Man for his whole life. He wanted to do other roles and projects that challenged him as an actor in addition to playing Spider-Man. He continued his theater gigs, playing Prior Walter for the play Angels in America in 2017-2018.
He would get a wide range of exciting characters to play in films like Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, and Tick, Tick…Boom!, until he returned as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home. His return proved to be a refreshing one for him as it let him portray the character with more maturity and sensitivity.
For Andrew Garfield, It’s Theater First, then Films
Andrew Garfield’s love for theater is a known fact. Doing renowned plays such as Angels in America and Death of a Salesman made him fall in love with the art of acting and performance. Angels in America proved to be a turning point in his career as he dived deep into the play and started brainstorming his thoughts on existentialism and humanity. He told GQ,
“It was Angels in America. The sense of achievement with that. The sense of surviving, and not missing a show, for however many months in London, and then however many months in New York – I didn’t drop a show. To live in that play for that long is like being in a washing machine for a year and a half. [Laughs] An existential washing machine. With angels and demons and lovers and ghosts, and longing for life, and illness, and the fragility of the mind and the fragility of the body – ultimately creating, like, a deep awareness of how remarkable it is that we’re all here”
His hard work and passion for the role of Prior Walter in Angels in America won him the award for Best Leading Actor in a Play at the 2018 Tony Awards. He has also been nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards for Hacksaw Ridge and Tick, Tick…Boom!.
What is Andrew Garfield Working on Now?
After his successful return as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home and a moving performance in Tick, Tick…Boom!, Andrew Garfield made his debut as the lead of a TV show called Under the Banner of Heaven. It is based on the book by Jon Krakauer with the same name.
He will also star in a romantic drama We Live in Time opposite Florence Pugh.
Source: GQ
