Andrew Garfield Talks “Spider-Man”

Andrew Garfield is happy about playing Spider-Man. 

That title is a bit misleading–actually, Andrew Garfield tells The Hollywood Reporter a lot about working on his two soon-to-be-released films, “Never Let Me Go” and “The Social Network,” but let’s just concentrate for now on his feelings about taking over the role of Peter Parker in the “Spider-Man” reboot. Garfield says:

I have been waiting for this phone call for 24 years, for someone to call me up and say, “Hey, we want you to pretend to be a character that you’ve always wanted to be all your life, and we’re going to do it with cool cameras and cool effects and you’re going to feel like you’re swinging through New York City. Do you want to do that?” [laughs] “Let me just consult with my seven-year old self and see what he thinks…” So my seven-year-old self started screaming in my soul and saying, This is what we’ve been waiting for. Like every young boy who feels stronger on the inside than they look on the outside, any skinny boy basically who wishes their muscles matched their sense of injustice, God, it’s just the stuff that dreams are made of, for sure. It’s a true fucking honor to be part of this symbol that I actually think is a very important symbol and it’s meant a great deal to me, and it continues to mean something to people. So yeah, I feel like I’ve been preparing for it for a while. Ever since Halloween when I was four years old and I wore my first Spider-Man costume.

That’s nice.

I’ve gotten to a point where I feel really bad when this topic comes up. I like Andrew Garfield. I think he is a very good actor (and I am always a sucker for someone who has a theater background). I think he has a great career ahead of him (and what he’s done up till now hasn’t been too shabby either). So what I have to say on this topic is not meant to be a slap at him. If Sony/Columbia had said that they were going to continue Spider-Man, but with another actor in the role and we were following the adventures of twentysomething Peter Parker, Garfield would be fine. But since the studio made such a huge big freakin’ deal about how they were “rebooting” the franchise so they could bring the character back to high school, it doesn’t make sense to cast a 27 year old who will be 30 when they start the second movie. Again, I say there is a huge difference between a 27 year old and a 17 year old, but not much of a difference between a 27 year old and a 35 year old, which is Tobey Maguire’s age. So I guess I should applaud Sony for casting the person they thought was the best actor for the character, but that choice through their whole raison d’etre for the reboot out the window. Unless, of course, the real reason was just trying to save money on Sam Raimi and Maguire’s salaries. No, that couldn’t be it…

Umm, sorry about that. Screed over. Anyway, Garfield also talks about how he is prepping physically for the role and mentally for the way it will blast him into a highter stratus of stars. He talks about his character in “Never Let Me Go” and working with David Fincher on “The Social Network.” His description of that makes it worth your while to jump over to and read the interview at THR.