The former Spider-Man returns in “Love Now,” a romantic drama about the broken destiny of a couple. Meeting with an antistar.
The touching video went around the world a few weeks ago. Andrew Garfield reunites with Elmo, his favorite childhood puppet from the show “1, Sesame Street”, to talk about the death of his mother. “It may seem candid or dangerous for an actor to be vulnerable publicly,” he confides, “but it was a way of honoring him. This sadness becomes a gift. When I think of her today, it's her hugs that come to mind first. And then, I said to myself that it was perhaps useful to simply talk about mourning and loss to the little ones, to make them aware. »
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Certainly, the adolescent face of the spider-man has firmed up a little in his forties, and he is bearded and more mature than we find him in London. He defends “Love in the Present”, by John Crowley (the director revealed it in 2007 in “Boy A”). A contemporary love story that evokes the couple in 2024, the desire for children, professional emancipation. But also illness as the sword of Damocles. Mourning, once again: “Like today's thirty-somethings, my character doesn't take risks. Even if it means sabotaging his relationship. What the film is about is that there is no true love without the concept of loss. » At her side in this British-style melodrama, completely bittersweet, the always astonishing Florence Pugh, seen in “Oppenheimer” or “Dune”.
“Performing on stage is just as physical as flying on ropes”
Born in Los Angeles but raised in Great Britain, Andrew Garfield knew how to take the best of both cultures. After the success of “Always With Me” and “The Social Network”, Hollywood made him its new star in 2012 by giving him the role of Spider-Man, which he played three times. But, in the great English tradition, he immediately returned to the theater in London's West End. “I took off my red and black Peter Parker jumpsuit right after filming to go rehearse “Death of a Salesman.” Performing on stage is just as physical as flying on ropes,” he says with a smile.
To the fame of the Spider-Man and his relationship at the time with Emma Stone, which was the talk of the celebrity press, he quickly preferred Martin Scorsese and his experimental “Silence” or “Thou Shalt Not Kill” by Mel Gibson . His role as a deserter soldier earned him one of his two Oscar nominations for best actor. He even won a Golden Globe in 2022, singing and dancing in “Tick, Tick… Boom!” », where he plays Jonathan Larson, the author of the musical “Rent”, who died at the age of 35 a few hours before the premiere of his play on Broadway.
In Andrew Garfield's boxes, projects galore: filming with Julia Roberts, playing Jesus for Scorsese, but also the astronomer Carl Sagan and the billionaire Richard Branson. While he asks if he can eat his salmon sandwich while we finish our discussion, taken during his lunch break, he confirms that he does not want to fit into a mold that has been prepared for him. “Yes, I like to go to extremes. Contrasts are invigorating for me. Exciting even…”
“Love in the Present”, released January 1, 2025.
