Andrew Garfield is an actor on the verge of hitting the jackpot — and he's only 28 years old. Although his looks may indeed deceive us, he is not an underage.
Garfield's breakout for the mainstream audiences happened with his portrayal of Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook, in the acclaimed David Fincher's film The Social Network. Now he is running for a Tony Award for his role as Biff Loman in a Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, that also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman.
And this summer, Garfield dons a very famous red-and-blue suit in the reboot of one of the biggest movie franchises of all time: He's playing Peter Parker in the anticipated summer blockbuster
The Amazing Spider-Man. Last Friday the actor had a little chat with NPR's David Greene, where he explained that he's taking a serious approach to what many consider a summer "popcorn" movie.
Here are some excerpts:
"
When you really look at the reality of ... Peter Parker's life and the stuff that he goes through," says Andrew, "
it's a pretty serious set of circumstances that he finds himself in".
"
If you really look at the idea of being bitten by a radioactive spider, and what that would mean to a 17-year-old boy going through adolescence, and attempting to find out the truth about the abandonment by his father ... and falling in love for the first time, and then there's a giant mutant lizard he discovers — it's too much for anyone, let alone a 17-year-old kid."
Listen or read a full transcript of the interview
here.
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.