IF THE SUIT FITS
The Spider-man costume might not have been comfortable, but Andrew Garfield happily wore it anyway
The way Andrew Garfield bounces down steps toward a chair at a Manhattan hotel suite makes it seem as though his shoes are made of springs. Mind you, he has a great deal to be bouncy about as he takes his seat.
He just completed a successful run on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for his Biff Loman portrayal in the remounting of Arthur Miller’s classic tragedy Death of a Salesman. And, he’s being celebrated as the new Spider-Man in the reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, which opens in theatres in Canada and the U.S. on July 3.
And before all of this, Garfield introduced himself to North American movie audiences in 2010 with his compelling portrayal of Eduardo Saverin in the Oscar-celebrated The Social Network.
“I have a very blessed life,” says the 28-year-old, smiling at his good fortune.
In the new Spider-Man, Garfield plays Peter Parker’s web-slinging superhero opposite his now real-life girlfriend Emma Stone, who defines love interest Gwen Stacy. Martin Sheen and Sally Field play Peter’s guardians, Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Denis Leary is Captain Stacy, Gwen’s father, and a police captain. Campbell Scott appears in a flashback as Peter’s scientist father.
The villain this time around is played by Rhys Ifans. He’s Dr. Curt Connors, a scientist and amputee who refines a drug that can regrow his arm and hand. In the process, he transforms himself into a nine-foot monster lizard determined to infest others with the dangerous serum — unless Spider-Man can stop him.
As the crime fighter, Garfield does lots of running, jumping and swinging, but the demands on him went beyond endurance during the film shoot, and later on Broadway.
He suffered through many sleepless nights, staying awake and obsessing about his teen superhero part. Then he went through turmoil with Death of a Salesman.
“My only intention was to honour the characters,” Garfield says of his compulsive focus. “And that goes for Biff Loman as well as Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. My approach was from my heart and guts.”
The intensity seems to be paying off. By all reports, the English actor more than held his own onstage opposite the commanding presence of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played Willy Loman. But the daily post-performance blues proved to be even tougher than keeping up with the accomplished thespian.
“The repetition of going through trauma every night onstage is a killer,” Garfield explains. He ended his limited run in the play on June 2. “Your body doesn’t know it’s not real, even if your mind does,” he says.
“Your body is in a lot of pain, and your heart is in a lot of pain, but it’s all worth it. I will always think about that theatre experience, and it will be very close to me.”
Theatre may be behind him for now, but Spider-Man is very much in his present and future. He will likely continue in the role for at least two more films, just as Tobey Maguire did as the previous Spidey.
“When I got cast, [Tobey] sent an email,” Garfield says. “It was very generous, and made me feel like I could take the torch in confidence, because I had the support. He didn’t need to do that, and it’s a testament to him as a person.”
They have something else in common: They both disliked their iconic, but uncomfortable, Spider-Man costumes.
“It’s like every actor who plays a superhero says that the costume sucked,” Garfield admits. “We should all get together and talk about it, because it is so inappropriate to talk about it in public. How dare we complain? It’s like a childhood dream, but it was so terrible to wear.”
He wouldn’t have complained about the prospect of wearing the outfit growing up in Surrey, England. Garfield was an obsessive fan of the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon series. Even as a young teen he says he could relate to the Peter Parker dilemma of being an introvert who refuses to live in the shadows.
“I always felt like an underdog, and I was a skinny kid,” Garfield says, smiling at the fact that he’s a fairly slim adult, too.
In between his involvement in youth theatre productions, gymnastics and swimming competitions, he became more physical because he thought he had something to prove.
“I played rugby, and I was good at it, but I got concussed all the time because I was a weakling,” he recalls. “So, that was something I always identified with; Peter always felt stronger on the inside than he did on the outside.”
The actor grins: “But there’s nothing better than seeing a skinny guy like Peter Parker beat the crap out of big guys.”