ET spoke to the actor about his role in the latest 'Spider-Man' film.
Spoilers ahead. If you haven't watched Spider-Man: No Way Home, proceed with caution.
Andrew Garfield made our multiverse dreams come true in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Tick, Tick... Boom! actor spoke to ET's Matt Cohen as he's being honored by the Palm Springs International Film Awards with the Desert Palm Achievement award for his work in the musical. As for returning to Spider-Man, he was thrilled to join his fellow Peter Parkers, Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire, in the film franchise's latest installment.
"First and foremost, I am a fan, so when Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige and John Watts asked to have a word with me and talk to me about an idea, and they pitched it, it was like I was the fans in the audience, watching it onscreen for the first time with like, the three Spider-Men across universes sharing a frame together," Garfield said about being asked to participate in one of the franchise's most monumental moments. "And like, your head, your little head, it just explodes. So, that's the main thing in me that I feel about it."
"And then, the fact that I get to be one of those people wearing the suit next to my actual Spider-Man hero, Tobey Maguire, and the brilliant, incredibly talented, heartfelt, funny, good, sweet, perfect Spider-Man of Tom Holland, and I get to be the middle brother, and I get to be in awe of my older brother and in full longing to protect my younger brother," he continued. "And also, there's something spiritual that kind of happened and happens, and that we were exploring in the film, which is like, archetypically, the character is so alone, the isolation, that's an important part of the character in terms of the cannon of Spider-Man, for me in a way."
It's a feeling that Garfield says audiences can relate to as they personally discover their own talents.
"I think one of the reasons why I think it's so appealing to so many people around the world, is that feeling of solitude that we can all -- and loneliness is maybe a better word -- that we can all relate to, as we are figuring out our giftedness, our ordinariness and how that meets our extraordinariness and going through adolescence and becoming a full person. The loneliness that that character feels, archetypally, that he seems destined to feel all his life, suddenly gets broken open," Garfield explains. "And these three guys, who maybe felt very lonely in the universe before, suddenly are aware that they're never alone, they never have been alone and actually there is a brotherhood out there, and God knows how many more Spider-Men, Peter Parkers, there are out there to share in that support group with."
Even with the support of both him and Maguire, the pair wanted to make sure that at the end of the day, it was always about Holland's Peter Parker and his journey as that character and in the iconic suit.
"The theme of mentorship and how these two people across the universe were the only ones that could really, fully understand what this young man was going through, and that was really important to us as well, that it was really about Tom and Tom's character, Tom's Peter, Tom's journey as the center of that," he said. "And we were just there to kind of support and have a lot of fun, and it was so much God damn fun."
Garfield is admittedly still in disbelief that the legendary moment occurred and grateful for the brotherhood he's developed with both Holland and Maguire, with whom he snuck into a screening to see the movie.
"I still can't believe it happened," Garfield gushed. "I snuck into a theater on opening night and just watched with my baseball cap on and my mask. In fact, I was also with Tobey, me and Tobey snuck into a theater together and no one knew we were there. It was just a really beautiful thing to share together."
"And to find a brotherhood with Tobey as well, and with Tom, and the fact that we do share a very unique experience," he added.
When it comes to putting on the Spider-Man suit again for another return to the Marvel Universe, Garfield tells ET, "Never say never."
"It's a character that's always going to be so meaningful to me, and so beautiful to me and again, it comes back to service," he shared. "I think if there's a way, because that's what that character is all about, he's all about serving the greater good and serving his fellow people, serving humanity and all life. So, if there's a way for me to continue to add to the legacy of that character in a way that feels like it's of service to an audience, of service to the themes that Stan Lee injected that character with, I'm open, of course, I'm very, very open, but it would have to be very, very special. It would have to be very, very meaningful and fun, and joyful, like doing No Way Home was."
"It's always going to be a part of me, whether I'm playing the character or not, I feel very connected to him," he went on to add.
In Garfield's latest film, Tick, Tick... Boom!, he stars as musical by playwright, Jonathan Larson, in an autobiographical story about his journey of becoming a composer in New York City. For the 38-year-old actor, the story represented the dream of his and so many who followed their passion and decided to become an artist.
"I remember the first time we screened the film for a SAG audience, and we were in Los Angeles, I think it was the day after our premiere, and I remember being in the hallway before we were gonna do our Q&A after, and I was with [Lin-Manuel Miranda] and the rest of the company, and I turned to Lin and said, 'I have a feeling this is gonna be a special night,' because everyone in that audience -- this is their story," Garfield explained. "Everyone who's ever held a SAG card, everyone who's ever been as audacious to follow their own dream -- whether it was artistic or otherwise -- this is their story. This is our story. It just so happens to be through this symbolic lens of Jonathan Larson, who happened to be the quintessential, devoted artist who could not let go of his own, very particular, unique thread that pulled him into life, and that he knew he had to leave behind all of his giftedness. And I think we all have a sense of that. We all have the opportunity to live that way, and I think that's one of the reasons that it's connecting with people in a way that goes beyond a film."
You can see Tick, Tick... Boom! in theaters and streaming now on Netflix.
RELATED CONTENT
