Andrew Garfield talks about reprising his Spider-Man role along with Tobey Maguire
by Jaskiran Kaur | Mon, 10 Jan 2022 18:25:11 GMT
Andrew Garfield shared why he chose to act in Spider-Man again; Credits: Deadline

Whether Spider-Man: No Way Home would have three spidermen or not was certainly the most pressing question of 2021. But finally, the moment arrived, and fans rejoiced as they saw all three web-slinging heroes from the Spider-verse together. 

One of these three Spideys was Andrew Garfield, the second hero in the webbed franchise to hold the laurel of the Peter-verse. Apart from getting to reprise a role from years ago, Andrew Garfield had a field time last year, starring in films like  “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!” He even managed to nick an Oscar nomination in the best actor category for the latter role. 

Owing to the wide popularity of getting to see all the Spider-men together in a film, the latest installment in Tom Holland's Peter Parker film grossed around $1.4 billion around the globe. 

Recently, Andrew Garfield sat down with Variety and shared what it meant to once again don the suit of Spider-Man. While there are several stars who might think that bygones are bygones and would not want to reprise roles, they left a long time ago. Yet Garfield and Tobey Maguire chose to return and, most honestly, helped better everyone's year!

When asked why he chose to play Peter Parker again, he shared, "I wasn’t expecting to ever have a conversation again about potentially playing Peter Parker. I felt very excited just to be a fan again." However, given the chance, he wouldn't want to let it slip. "But I got this call from Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige and Jon Watts with this idea. It was immediately undeniable. It sounded incredibly fun, incredibly spiritual — trippy and thematically interesting. On a base level, as a Spider-Man fan, just the idea of seeing three Spider-Men in the same frame was enough," said the actor.

Talking about the flow of the film and the plot, he revealed, "We talked a lot about mentorship. We talked a lot about brotherhood and about what it is to be the older brother, younger brother, and middle brother. There’s also the thing of seeing someone you love walking down a path that you’ve already walked down, and you know it doesn’t lead to the place where you ultimately meant to go."

Not only did it add a lot of depth to the other two Spider-Men roles, but also managed to change the narrative of their stories that they ended so long ago. Garfield added that with Peter Parker, "that character is isolated in his emotional experience and physical experience." He added, "But what happens when that aloneness gets blasted open, and you come to realize that you’ve never been alone and there are other brothers going through the exact same thing? That’s a big spiritual journey to go on, man. And then we just milked out all the fun that we could possibly have."

Noticeably, all the three Spider-Men lost people in the films whom they could not have thought of living without. For two of the web-slingers, it was their uncle and aunt, and for one, it was Gwen. The shared experience of loss was something that helped pull the story together. Garfield said, "We were shooting for two weeks, Tobey and I, but I think we managed to achieve something that is not just showing up and going, “Hi! Bye!”

He added, "My Spider-Man got to save his younger brother’s romantic relationship, potentially. And to heal the most traumatic moment of his own life through doing it for his younger brother. Making sure that he didn’t have the same fate, there’s something cosmically beautiful about that. It meant getting a second chance at saving Gwen." 

He added a few words of appreciation, saying, "You know, the spirit that Zendaya brings to MJ is so heartfelt and pure and loving, and Emma brought that similar unique spirit to Gwen."

Of course, three Spideys at the same place had to be an iconic experience. Garfield revealed, "I think the first time we were all in the suit together, it was hilarious because it’s like just three ordinary dudes who were just actors just hanging out. But then also, you just become a fan and say, “Oh my god we’re all together in the suits, and we’re doing the pointing thing!”

The Spider-Man suits do come with a little discomfort as the actor shared, "Tom was jealous because I have little zippers in my suit that I can get my hands out of very easily. To work his phone, he had to use his nose because he couldn’t access his hands."

But apart from the fun, the actors did realize the massive impact they would have on people. He said, "We would have deeper conversations, too, and talk about our experiences with the character. And to have Amy Pascal there, who has seen through nine movies, including “Spider-Verse.” It was a revelatory experience for her, realizing how much life and time she’d given to this character. That was beautiful and profound."

Garfield also shared how tremendous the magnitude of the films could have been if Kristen Dunst and Emma Stone, leads from the previous Spider films, could also have made it to the latest installment. He said," It’s too big. Gwen had agency. In our film, on her final day, she shows up. I tried to restrain her from showing up to that scene with Electro. I knew that it was too dangerous, but she chose to be there. She had a hand in her own destiny in that way, and the movie is about fate."

Spider-Man Home brought together all the three Spider-Men; Credits: Insider

Yet he added, "I will say the image of my catching MJ — that was really beautiful and it kind of sold me on the whole thing."

RELATED ARTICLES