Andrew Garfield: ‘Suddenly your parents die, you have a crisis and your priorities change’

Anyone might raise an eyebrow listening to a whiny Andrew Garfield talk about his midlife crisis. The Californian actor doesn’t look 41, which is how old he turned last August, but one of the gifts he gave himself to get over the ordeal was a week at the San Sebastián Film Festival held the following month: seven days of surfing and restaurants with two friends, or in other words, Spider-Man and a couple of colleagues on a pintxo tour of the Basque coastal city world-famous for its food scene.

We met with him there and, inevitably, before delving into his career and We Live in Time, the movie by John Crowley that he stars in and which premiered in Europe in January, the conversation turns to food. Garfield takes out his mobile phone and shows me photos of the dishes he had for dinner at Arzak, a restaurant founded by one of the pioneers of new Basque cuisine, the chef Juan Mari Arzak. “Look, this is garlic soup,” he says excitedly. “My favorite is this tuna one. And that thing about the kokotxas [hake or cod cheeks], what a surprise. I didn’t know they existed, or that you could eat them. And look what they do with lobster,” he says with a little smile. “What I admire the most is that they cook with local products. Impressive. Florence [Pugh, his partner in We Live in Time recommended it to me. She was very insistent and she wasn’t wrong. What a week.” Before locking his phone, he looks at another photo of a dish and sighs.

But back to life crises. “Maybe that’s too strong a word — call it ending and restarting. A midlife crisis happens when people are reluctant to stop being young, and I’ve just accepted it,” says Garfield, bursting into laughter. “Let me explain. I read the script for We Live in Time at a time when I was thinking about the meaning of life. I’ve always been like that, but back then I was even more obsessed. I was thinking about everything: life, death, love, time… You’re 39 or 40, you look at the past and the future. You question where you are and think: ‘What now?’ Well, now I’m nervous but excited about what’s to come. All this is accentuated for actors. Because at 20 and 30 you are very clear that you want to play the best roles and projects: ‘I want that script and I want that project to be made.’ But… at 40?”

He says it all with a smile, as if confirming the plausibility of the message, but then the pain sets in: “Suddenly, your parents die. I lost my mother [she died of pancreatic cancer in 2019] and so, suddenly, this crisis hits you. Desires, needs and priorities change. The only way to correct this life’s swerve is to take back control.”

In We Live in Time there is an approach to those emotional losses due to the cancer suffered by the co-star, and in the chronological disorder in which the film is presented, as the pieces of a puzzle that the audience must assemble in their heads, which gives it narrative ferocity. “However, I know that I am a man, and that what for me is a work and philosophical matter, for women means putting them against the wall. It is part of the cultural tragedy that encourages us to pursue eternal youth.”

This film is the first in which Garfield plays a father. His boyish face became popular after studying acting in London and gaining experience on television and in supporting film roles (such as in Lions for Lambs or The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). In 2010, he starred in Never Let Me Go, The Social Network and announced he would be the next Spider-Man. Over the years, he has prioritized more auteur cinema (Silence by Martin Scorsese, or Hacksaw Ridge, for which he was nominated for an Oscar), regardless of whether he is playing the lead or not. “I am at the service of the filmmaker. A bit like my character in the film. He would be capable of living at the service of his wife and daughter. His wife, on the other hand, feels an inner artistic calling that drives her. And it is very easy to get derailed on that journey: wanting it all can lead you — or not — to being left with nothing. Balance... the life of an artist lies in the balance.”

Garfield has a handle on these types of characters: Edward from The Social Network, Peter Parker from Spider-Man, and Tobias from We Live in Time. Good-natured people, but with character in the face of injustice. The audience loves them, because they understand that they are moved by their big hearts, even if at a given moment they might thump their fist on the table. “They try to go unnoticed, to please everyone, and that is impossible. Their struggle is in their inner pulse between being invisible and their desire to be part of the party of life,” confirms the actor, stretching out in his chair while opening his arms and stirring the air to emphasize the party: “Over time, they must face their own limitations and oppose those who want to take advantage of them.”

The actor likes to change his approach to the characters depending on the project. “Sometimes I take them to bed [he spent a year preparing and lost 18 kilos for Silence], but other times I leave the set and they stay there. Each role is an amalgam between what is written in the script and myself. They feed on parts of me, some I know existed, others I discover at that moment. I allow each character to enter into me. On this occasion, I let it see my more familiar side. Then I always need to decompress, to be Andrew again and, I don’t know, go to a friend’s wedding. I love working, going on stage, filming movies, acting, but...”

Perhaps that’s why he’s worked much less than many actors of his generation. “When I hear ‘action!’ I don’t allow myself any distractions, I’m there 100%, enjoying the panic of keeping up with the project. It’s true that because I’m Andrew, I give myself my breaks. It’s my pace, I need my time. I fight against an inner fear, that my career will get out of control. I feel that it’s better for me to take those breaks. Think about it, my first film was with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. How do you manage to live up to that?” he says, bursting into another laugh.

During his stay in San Sebastián, two actors dressed as Spider-Man walked around the city with a photo of Garfield and a sign asking passers-by if they had seen the third Spider-Man. Did he ever meet the pair? “No, but I did chat with one of them in the hotel lobby, Marcos. I thought it was funny, actually.” Then he stands up, shakes hands, and returns to his real interest: “What did you say the dish was called?” Kokotxas, Andrew.

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