VMan has just posted this fascinating article that features Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Tobey Maguire and Mar Webb's Spider-Man Andrew Garfield chatting about the pressure of playing a superhero.
Tobey Maguire had plenty of nice things to say about his replacement. He tells Andrew about his first reactions to finding out who the new Spider-Man would be.
TOBEY MAGUIRE: I do know about it! actually, when it was coming together, I was particularly excited at two moments: one was when [director] Marc Webb got involved. I think he's an interesting and cool choice. and then I was certainly curious as to who was going to play Peter Parker. When I heard it was you, I was literally like, [frick]ing perfect! I just want it to be great, and I thought, What a great actor andrew is, i'm glad that's what's happening here.
AG: That's so nice of you.
Tobey then wanted to discuss the grueling auditioning process that Andrew went through just to get the part.
AG: It was pretty basic, apart from it being more dragged out and pressure-filled and dra- matic than any other audition process I've ever been through. They like to put you through the ringer, in the respect that it creates drama and tension among a generation of actors.
TM: [Laughs]
AG: And they succeed every time, it seems. But, no, it was great. I'm friends with a few of the guys who were up for it, and I actually had dinner with Jamie [Bell] the night of my screen test and his screen test. We compared notes and war stories, and we kind of got past the ridiculousness of it all and thought it would be a nice idea to get everyone together and kind of interview each other about how messed up the process is, being against each other, and remember that we're all in it together, knowing that when you take off that bodysuit someone else is going to be stepping into your sweat immediately after. It's a weird kind of cattle call. But Marc [Webb] was great. He was very open and encouraging. You have the monitoring area with literally about 30 people judging you, looking at your face and whispering to each other—it's one of the most disconcerting and kind of humiliating things to go through, if you're aware of it, you know what I mean?
Andrew seems particularly worried about how his life will change once the film is released. He tells Tobey Maguire that the stress of
The Amazing Spider-Man's opening is weighing on quite heavily, even more so than a Broadway performance.
AG: The main thing I'm thinking about and worrying about is what happens after this movie comes out. What was your experience when you became Spider-Man in people's eyes? I'm interested to hear what you have to say about the whole life change that it brings. Because right now I have a host of fears that I'm contending with on a minute-to-minute basis. I'm not in the reality of it yet, so I'm sure I'm imagining it will be much worse than it is. I admire you so much because you're an actor and that's all you've ever been and all you ever will be. It must be very hard to hold on to the simple fact of wanting to be an actor, to tell stories and not have your image become bigger than your art. Do you have a recollection of a definite change, or was it a seamless thing?
TM: I think our thing was a little bit different because movies hadn't been doing the sort of opening-weekend business that's fairly common—even expected—today. The first Harry Potter came out about six months before us and it was this phenom- enon from Day one. it was so wild because it was a new thing at that moment—and i'm not saying that hasn't happened in movie history, but at the time that was a big jump. and then that happened with us. People didn't anticipate [2002's Spider- Man] to be like that. Leading up to it you start to get reactions and people tell you, you know, what the tracking is and what range your opening weekend box office is likely to be. but for me it was kind of unexpected. So much shifted in my life the weekend the movie came out. it was shocking.
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr Curt Connors (Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field, the films swings into theaters July 3, 2012 in 3D!