"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

Andrew Garfield achieved his Hollywood breakthrough with the role of Eduardo Saverin in the 2010 film The Social Network. Now the 28 year-old dons the role of Peter Parker, who becomes the titular superhero in The Amazing Spider-Man.

Garfield talks about the difference between playing Biff Loman in the recent Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman and playing a comic book superhero.

“Not much difference, actually, weirdly enough,” Andrew says, “In terms of how I approached it, my only intention was to honor the character. That goes for Biff Loman as well as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. That was everything to me. So, my approach was the same, just from my heart and guts. I got very upset and stressed out and wanted to do a good job, as is my way. And that’s kind of it. I mean, there were certain things that were challenging about both, of course. You know, the repetition of going through trauma every night on stage is a killer and your body doesn’t know it’s not real, even if your mind does. So, your body is in a lot of pain and your heart is in a lot of pain. But it’s worth it. I will always think about that theatre experience all my life. I will hold it very, very close to me.”

“And then with this movie, the technical aspects, the only thing that was kind of a challenge was that it was difficult to get into a rhythm because of the 3D cameras,” he continues, “The new technology was difficult for everyone involved. They take a lot of care and delicacy, so it meant that we were stopped occasionally. I love just going and going and going and keep it rolling, keep it rolling and screwing up and screwing up and screwing up, then occasionally you accidentally get something right and you won’t know how. That’s kind of how I like to work. And that’s why I loved working with

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

David Fincher because he does so many takes. I discovered how that kind of painful exactness really suits me, so that was cool.”

Unlike the original Spider-Man films, the hero uses mechanical web shooters. Andrew was asked about whether the gadgets were real.

“Um, ha, do I lie or no,” he says, “Um, no, it was a nice exercise in imagination, and that carjacker scene we had, that was all improvised, that scene, so I had this idea that I could draw the Spidey image over the guy’s crotch, and I think at one point they had that in there and they took it out.”

“But no, to be able to have that imagination do whatever you want and know that they could add it in post was kind of liberating so I could shut that door on that guy as many times as I want,” Garfield adds, “I could web him in the face, I could web a long shot. It was kind of fun. But difficult, because if it was real, it would have been awesome if it was real.”

Garfield talks about the experience of using swinging rigs to simulate Spider-Man shooting his web and flying through the air.

Andy Armstrong kind of turned into a father figure for me on this film and remains that way,” he says, “I will write a book about him one day. His team are the safest group of hands you could ever hope to meet, and passionate, supportive, loving, it’s a tribe that he has. And he was generous enough to allow me to be a part of that tribe. I got no special treatment and it was amazing for that very, very, very reason.”

“He’s a real person and he likes real people and we had an amazing time,” Andrew adds, “He pushes me, you know, there were things I was scared about and like any good father he kind of told me: ‘Go beyond. Go beyond what you

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

think you can do, ’cause you might surprise yourself.’ So for that reason it’s kind of a spiritually overwhelming sort of experience to work with him, and of course that combines with that sensation, that physical sensation that I wanted to do since I was 3, probably what everyone in this room has wanted to do since they were 3 years old: I got to live that for a second. I’m eternally grateful to everyone at Sony Pictures for allowing me to.”

Andrew was asked whether or not he received any feedback from Tobey Maguire, who played the superhero in the 2000’s film trilogy.

“To my knowledge he hasn’t seen the movie, but I got feedback from the casting, when I got cast he sent an email to Matt Tolmach immediately, that was very, very generous,” Garfield answers, “And made me feel like I could take the torch in confidence and that I had that support in him. He didn’t need to do that, it tells you something about his person. We’re all part of that family, that Spider-Man family.

Garfield talks about how one of the running themes in The Amazing Spider-Man is the hero being pegged as a vigilante.

“What’s cool about this movie is that he discovers the power of what he’s created,” Andrew says, “He doesn’t create this symbol with any kind of high-mindedness, he creates it so he can protect himself, because he’s searching for his uncle’s killer. And I think that he is a vigilante for a period of this story, of this particular story. And I think it’s true for any teenager who goes through that amount of tragic events to have those impulses, to kick out, and rebel, and use their powers in a way that you’re not thinking responsibly. They’re not even thinking at all. I think that whole section is Peter running away from his feelings, Peter running away from the pain, the guilt, and putting it in something

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

physical, and sweating it out. And when he comes home to Aunt May it’s sort of very difficult to be seen in that way and to see yourself in that way.”

“So yeah, I think there is a period where he’s acting out on those kinds of impulses, and he accidentally discovers that he’s created something bigger than him, and that can be used for good,” he continues, “I think it, it was important for me that he started with a heroic impulse, he, without the physical powers doing things with it. And that was always how I felt growing up, I felt like I was a dog and I felt like I was a skinny kid and, now I’m not obviously, I’m a just like, huge bruiser. So I got over that problem. Now I just realize that being skinny is ok, you know? I always feel I should have been bigger for that reason, because if I actually told you that, I guess, although for example like everybody played rugby, and I played rugby, and I was good at it but I got concussed all the time because I was a weakling, So that’s something I would identify with for Peter, you know, he always just felt stronger on the inside than he did on the outside. And there’s nothing better than seeing a skinny guy beat the crap out of big guys. So that was just kind of important for me.”

Andrew, who says he’s a huge Spider-Man fan himself, talks about how he got to meet the original comic’s creator Stan Lee, who has a small cameo in the film.

“I’ve been at this for the past two years, it seems like, every day there’s been something that like has made me have to suppress shaking,” Garfield says, “So, but Stan Lee was a weird one because he wasn’t real. He’s too iconic to be real. So it wasn’t like I was in a

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

room with a human being, it was like I was in a room with a wax figure, you know? I was at Madame Tussauds. It made no sense. I wasn’t nervous, I was just like… I was one of those annoying people and he was just like, ‘I’m here…’ And he’s amazing, he’s everything that you think he is. Stan Lee also appears in The Amazing Spider-Man video game as a playable character.

“He came on set, so I met him in the makeup trailer once, and then he came on set again and he did this amazing cameo in the library,” he continues, “It was just, it was just beautiful because when you really truly understand what he’s given to us, he’s given so many kids hope, and joy, and you cannot thank enough for that. It was like being in a room with Mickey Mouse, you know, it was bizarre. So I wasn’t actually nervous, in a weird way. That was the one day I wasn’t actually nervous.”

Unlike the original Spider-Man trilogy, Peter Parker is played much more realistically in terms of being a teenager. Garfield talks about the preparation he did to really come off as an authentic teenager onscreen.

“I agree that the teenage element is incredibly vital to this particular superhero and this person, this character,” he says, “The fact that he goes through the same stuff I went through, that’s why I love him so much, because I thought if I was him. That’s why everyone feels like he’s him because he’s all of us. He really is. So the teenage thing, I don’t know. I did spend time in Queens hanging out with teenagers and a lot of recording the voice and intonation and picking up phrases that I might not be aware of or a general attitude. That malaise and the awkward shyness, every aspect. There was a great book I found for inspiration called Teenage, which is a

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

book of photographs. I wouldn’t buy it because it’s too expensive, but actually the marketing department at Sony bought it for me very, very generously as a gift. I saw the price and I’m like, ‘You guys are crazy! Thank you so much.’ But it’s awesome. The energy of the photos in that is what I wanted to capture. It’s tongue on tongue.”

“It’s just head out the window, that need to express, that need to kick the walls down irrationally,” Andrew adds, “Which, when you combine that with being a superhero, that is kind of exciting. There’s that scene on Gwen’s bedroom floor where she’s nursing me and we have an intimate, kind of heavy moment of like she’s terrified I’m going to die and I’m terrified of what I’ve done to my mentor. At the end of that scene it’s, ‘Let’s just get out of here. We’ve got to get out of here.’ In a previous version, we shot a lot more, we have a date night where it’s expressive and free and teenage and romantic and silly. But that feeling is something that I really wanted to capture, especially in those moments between Gwen and Peter. So, Teenage, check out that book. It’s too expensive. Find someone who has it and look at the pictures. You’ll be like, ‘Oh God, I remember that feeling.’”

Andrew compares doing the romantic and kissing scenes with co-star Emma Stone, who plays Gwen Stacy, and the killing and action scenes.

“They’re all pretty scary things,” he replies, “Ha, yeah, they’re all pretty scary. I actually felt more safe when I was swinging around because you have a very, very strong safe pair of hands holding you up. In the romantic scenes, I’m free-falling in a way, as they should be. They have to be spontaneous and free and terrifying, because that’s what first love is.”

“First love is the scariest thing to ever go through and the most exhilarating,” Garfield

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

continues, “You’ve got so much to lose. So they were actually more frightening than swinging through the buildings, in a weird way, and especially because it’s Emma, and she’s terrifying.”

Garfield also discusses doing the transformation, the training, and the film’s stunts.

“It’s so nice to be able to look at a movie and feel ownership,” Andrew says, “It’s a really nice thing to be able to feel that, because of Andy’s trust and his encouragement of me. There was something specific that I wanted to do with the physicality that wasn’t just a guy in a suit throwing kicks and punches and saying cheesy lines. I wanted it to be a “Spider-Boy” in the way that if we ground this film in reality, then what happens when spider DNA is running through your bloodstream? What happens to the teenage boy who is fidgety and nervous and can’t really keep still? He discovers that he can now have patience, like a spider. There was another scene that they cut out which was awesome, which is me and when the Chinese thing goes in the trashcan when I’m on the computer, but I was doing something with all my limbs, doing different things, and they melded two shots and I thought it was really, really cool. I was moving a lamp with my left, I was typing with my right foot, I was eating Chinese, and I was reaching for something behind me, and it didn’t get in the movie. Maybe I’ll cut my own movie on bits that I like. So, yeah, that was really fun.”

“And there was a lot of great physical stuff that made it, like for instance the scene where I get all the food out of the fridge,” he adds, “The kind of spatial awareness that you have in this film is like, ‘Peter doesn’t move like that. Peter doesn’t glide like that before the spider bite.’ And the way he’s moving around

"The Amazing Andrew Garfield!"

the space, he’s kind of walking by the wall as opposed to walking straight through the room. He’s kind of got his back to the wall. That kind of thing is fun to play with, but then of course the training is horrible, like the physical training changed my body because I’m a lazy guy. I’m vain, but I’m not vain enough to care about the gym. And Armando Alarcon was my trainer and he’s a fantastic trainer and a terrible person. I have very confused feelings about Armando. Wherever he is, he knows that. He’s hiding from me because he will be murdered one day. No, but we had a great time. I was thankful for him. He kept me on an even keel all the way through, and that combined with the whole stunt team was a pretty awesome experience.”

Andrew was asked if he had any issues with the costume.

“You know, I had many issues with that costume,” Garfield laughs, “But every actor who plays a superhero is like, ‘the costume sucked.’ Like, we should just get together to talk about it because it’s so inappropriate to talk about in public.”

“It’s like how dare we complain,” he continues, “We’re the ones that get to wear it. It’s the dream. But, it was so terrible. No, let me just put it this way, the fantasy of wearing those costumes is really awesome. We should just enjoy that.”