Years before Tom Holland’s Spider-Man debut, the Marvel superhero whose story spawned multiple 21st century film franchises was played by this guy, Andrew Garfield.
I am joking, of course, as Andrew is a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Tony Award winner who recently earned the second Oscar nomination of his career for Tick, Tick… Boom!
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His leading role in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, opposite Emma Stone, is probably the one most of us remember when thinking back on Andrew’s rise to global mega-fame. It came a decade after Tobey Maguire originated the part in 2002.
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Well, call it fate, conscious manifestation, or good old-fashioned practice, but it sounds like Andrew was already preparing for Spider-Man while pursuing his undergraduate degree in the early 2000s.
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To be clear, Andrew used to get stoned and recite Tobey’s Spider-Man lines as a student at University of London’s drama school. He recalled the preemptive rehearsal routine during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
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“I would practice his lines in the mirror when I was in drama school,” Andrew recalled. “I was very high at the time.”
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The Eyes of Tammy Faye star went on to note that his friend, Terry McGinnis — Bruce Wayne’s fictional Batman successor in DC Comics? — would “crack up” over his private performances.
“[He] would look at me like, ‘Yeah, you’ll never play Spider-Man, Andy,'” said Andrew. “And then here we are.”
Andrew, who recently made a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home alongside Tobey, shared more about how the actor’s legacy inspired him. It was actually Tobey signing on to No Way Home that encouraged Andrew to do the same.
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“He’s my Spider-Man,” Andrew said. “I was like, ‘Well, if Tobey’s doing it, I’ve got to do it.'”
You can watch Andrew’s interview here or in the clip above.
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