Andrew Garfield Sensed Danger After Accepting Spider-Man Role at 26: F, That Was a

Andrew Garfield made a beloved return to his Spider-Man role in last year’s blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” completing an arc for the character that he first started when he was only 26 years old. In a new interview with GQ UK, the Oscar nominee said accepting the life-changing role of Spider-Man at such a young age was “an interesting experience, for sure.”

“I feel that about myself as a 26-year-old. I’m like, ‘Fuck, that was a lot to take on. It’s a shit-ton to take on,'” Garfield said. “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,'” he continued. “I wanna be a theatre 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. That’s not me being glib — I really know that. If everything else fell away…I’d rent an apartment in London, and I can do theatre.”

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Garfield originally played the superhero in the Marc Webb-directed “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” The latter title was a failure among critics and fans, forcing Sony to cut Garfield’s franchise short and team up with Disney to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Tom Holland. Garfield first told Variety that he’s interested in making another “Spider-Man” movie after “No Way Home,” albeit only “if it felt right” in terms of the story idea.

“Peter and Spider-Man, those characters are all about service, to the greater good and the many,” Garfield said. “He’s a working-class boy from Queens that knows struggle and loss and is deeply empathetic. I would try to borrow Peter Parker’s ethical framework in that, if there was an opportunity to step back in and tell more of that story, I would have to feel very sure and certain in myself.”

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Martina Birk

Update: 2024-02-10

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