Andrew Garfield
Birthday: 20 August 1983, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name: Andrew Russell Garfield
Height: 179 cm
Andrew Russell Garfield was born in Los Angeles, California, to a British-born mother, Lynn (Hillman), and an American-born father, Richard Garfield. When he was three, he moved to Surrey, U.K., with ...Show More
[on where his guilt complex comes from] Being Jewish and, yes, I'm sure it stems from being privileg Show more
[on where his guilt complex comes from] Being Jewish and, yes, I'm sure it stems from being privileged. I was brought up in a middle class home. I went to private school. And I was always very aware of me not earning that. Hide
[on having to work out for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man] - I want to feel stronger than I've Show more
[on having to work out for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man] - I want to feel stronger than I've ever felt, and I want to feel more flexible than I've ever felt. I want to feel powerful. You don't just want to be a pack of meat-it has to be an open body. It does something to your psyche, and it does something to the way you move. Hide
I hope that I have to audition for every single job I want. I hope that I'm always struggling, reall Show more
I hope that I have to audition for every single job I want. I hope that I'm always struggling, really. You develop when you're struggling. When you're struggling, you get stronger. Hide
I think too much. Being in my body is much more satisfying than being in my head.
I think too much. Being in my body is much more satisfying than being in my head.
Whenever I'm not on stage I wanna watch reality television... I wanna watch, like, The Voice or The Show more
Whenever I'm not on stage I wanna watch reality television... I wanna watch, like, The Voice or The Bachelor... Don't be surprised by that -- it's the greatest show on TV! Hide
[on his religious upbringing] ...My father is Jewish and that side of my family is Jewish, but he's Show more
[on his religious upbringing] ...My father is Jewish and that side of my family is Jewish, but he's nonpracticing and left the faith as a young boy, of his own volition. My mom is a kind of pantheist, and my father became an atheist but I think he's now coming around to some kind of higher power... I was raised with all this space around me, spiritually speaking. And that has really continued, but what it engendered in me is a great deep hunger for answers, and I've been a spiritual seeker since I was a kid. I was always fascinated with people like Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus, and John Lennon and Martin Luther King. Hide
[on choosing to play Desmond Doss in 'Hacksaw Ridge'] I sat with Mel and talked at length about it, Show more
[on choosing to play Desmond Doss in 'Hacksaw Ridge'] I sat with Mel and talked at length about it, and my only concern was: I don't want to do this film if the message is , 'Christianity is the only way'. And he agreed. It was vital to me that we communicated that Desmond's faith was deeper than any dogma, deeper than any set of man-made rules, but that he was in touch with a deep knowledge in his bones, as opposed to any ideology. Hide
Spider-Man is neurotic. Peter Parker is not a simple dude. He can't just switch off... He never feel Show more
Spider-Man is neurotic. Peter Parker is not a simple dude. He can't just switch off... He never feels like he's doing enough. And Peter suffers from self-doubt. He ums and ahs about his future because he's neurotic. He's Jewish. It's a defining feature. Hide
I'm very neurotic and self-conscious. So I think that I'll know when I'm becoming a dick and believi Show more
I'm very neurotic and self-conscious. So I think that I'll know when I'm becoming a dick and believing my own press. Hide
Hopefully we're dying on the cross every day and being resurrected in a truer way every day. That's Show more
Hopefully we're dying on the cross every day and being resurrected in a truer way every day. That's the idea for me - the old self being shed in order for the truer self to emerge. Hide
[on playing Spider-Man] I was just so invigorated and challenged and joyous about it. I was all brui Show more
[on playing Spider-Man] I was just so invigorated and challenged and joyous about it. I was all bruised up and scratched up and it felt really good. Throwing myself against walls, which is incredibly exciting and painful and manhood-testing. It was so much fun. Hide
[on Hollywood parties/events] - Those events that look like so much fun in the photos you see-it's m Show more
[on Hollywood parties/events] - Those events that look like so much fun in the photos you see-it's mostly people looking over their shoulders at everyone. They're miserable, those parties. Hide
I don't mind the Jesus parallel for Spider-Man. Jesus is an awesome guy. Whether he was real or fake Show more
I don't mind the Jesus parallel for Spider-Man. Jesus is an awesome guy. Whether he was real or fake, he did some really sick stuff. When Pontius Pilate said: "They say you're the son of God. If you're the son of God, tell me." Jesus was like: "I know who I am, bitch." I don't know if he said "bitch". Maybe he didn't curse up Pontius Pilate. But that was a cool thing. Peter is not that evolved. Peter wants to tell the world he's a good guy: "Like me: I'm nice." He's a 19-year-old kid. He's a kid struggling with being misunderstood. We've all been misunderstood. That's universal too. I like being Peter. Hide
[on working with Mel Gibson] He's incredibly instinctive and emotional - all blood and guts, nerve e Show more
[on working with Mel Gibson] He's incredibly instinctive and emotional - all blood and guts, nerve endings, viscera and muscle. Simultaneously, he's got a tremendous intellect. Hide
[on not watching movies that he's in] - If I watch myself, then I suddenly have a bunch of things th Show more
[on not watching movies that he's in] - If I watch myself, then I suddenly have a bunch of things that I'm scared to do. It just upsets me. I've stopped reading reviews, as well. If one is negative, you hold on to that. It was killing me. It was holding me back from being creative and being free.... The first thing that was written was, [on the subject of blogs and message boards] - 'What's up with this kid's eyebrows? He looks like a friggin' Neanderthal.' Hide
[on performing the role of Biff in 'Death of a Salesman' on Broadway] The repetition of going throug Show more
[on performing the role of Biff in 'Death of a Salesman' on Broadway] The repetition of going through trauma every night onstage is a killer. 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 theater experience, and it will be very close to me. Hide
I hope this period doesn't end. I hope I never blow up. I hope that I have to audition for every sin Show more
I hope this period doesn't end. I hope I never blow up. I hope that I have to audition for every single job I want. I hope that I'm always struggling, really. You develop when you're struggling. When you're struggling, you get stronger. Hide
[on the The Amazing Spider-Man 2] For me, I read the script that Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] wrot Show more
[on the The Amazing Spider-Man 2] For me, I read the script that Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] wrote, and I genuinely loved it. There was this thread running through it. I think what happened was, through the pre-production, production, and post-production, when you have something that works as a whole, and then you start removing portions of it-because there was even more of it than was in the final cut, and everything was related. Once you start removing things and saying, 'No, that doesn't work,' then the thread is broken, and it's hard to go with the flow of the story. Certain people at the studio had problems with certain parts of it, and ultimately the studio is the final say in those movies because they're the tent poles, so you have to answer to those people. Hide
[on filming the scene in The Social Network (2010), in which his character, "Eduardo Saverin", loses Show more
[on filming the scene in The Social Network (2010), in which his character, "Eduardo Saverin", loses his cool and lashes out both physically and verbally at "Mark Zuckerberg", played by Jesse Eisenberg] - Are you kidding me? That day and night of shooting was one of my favorite experiences. I was actually proud of myself because I didn't care what I was doing. I was literally not judging myself. And it was so fucking beautiful for a second. I've gone through my whole life caring deeply what people think of me. That was probably one of the first times where I didn't care for a second. And it was liberating. I felt more like a man than I've ever felt.... That's what always excited me about other people's performances. Abandon. Hide
[on not expecting to get the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and then how he felt when he found out Show more
[on not expecting to get the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and then how he felt when he found out he got it] - I was genuinely expecting 'You're just a shit actor' instead of 'We want you to do it.'... I realized immediately how much hard work it was going to be, and how much of a minefield it was going to be in terms of all the shit that comes with it. Stuff that I would like to not have any part of. I mean visibility and being recognized walking down the street. I'm holding out a naive and ignorant hope that it won't happen.I couldn't gag the 5-year-old self inside of me. I said, 'What should we do?' And he was like, - [at this point Andrew slips into an accent] - 'DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? It's Spider-Man!' My inner 5-year-old is a New Yorker with a smoker's cough and a horrible mouth. Hide
The actors that excite me and inspire me are not selfish actors, they do it with purpose. They creat Show more
The actors that excite me and inspire me are not selfish actors, they do it with purpose. They create characters and tell stories with purpose and generosity for an audience. It's all to serve a story and the themes of the story. That's what excites me. I look at Daniel Day-Lewis, the detail of his performances and how lived in they are. He truly experiences every character's reality that he steps into, that inspires me as well. The potential for exploring aspects of yourself that have been covered up for years or aspects of yourself you didn't realize you had. To step into someone else's shoes like Daniel Day-Lewis does so fully or like DeNiro does so fully. Hide
Obviously there's something very seductive about movies, which can be attractive in a bad way if you Show more
Obviously there's something very seductive about movies, which can be attractive in a bad way if you're doing them for the wrong reasons - for money, or for fame. I hope I won't ever do that. I don't feel at home in LA, I feel like I'm on holiday. It's nice to dip your feet in occasionally, but I think it's probably quite unhealthy to spend too much time there at once. Hide
[on playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man] - I see it as a massive challenge in many ways. To make it auth Show more
[on playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man] - I see it as a massive challenge in many ways. To make it authentic. To make the character live and breathe in a new way. The audience already has a relationship with many different incarnations of the character. I do, as well. I'm probably going to be the guy in the movie theater shouting abuse at myself. But I have to let that go. No turning back. And I wouldn't want to. Hide
Andrew Garfield'S roles
