Before Andrew Garfield decided to don the blue and red tights and play Spider-Man in Sony’s reboot of the Tobey Maguire franchise, most people knew him as the British actor that was in David Fincher’s “Social Network.” However, since those two ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ films, the actor is synonymous with the superhero, even though he’s passed the Peter Parker baton to Tom Holland. But even though he’s shed the Spider-Man persona, it still follows him around, like in the new film “Under the Silver Lake.”
And in a new interview with UPROXX, Garfield talks about his shock to read about a special Spider-Man Easter Egg in the new David Robert Mitchell film that features nary a superhero and what it’s like rebounding from a massive, blockbuster franchise.
For those not familiar with the new film (which is in select theaters and on VOD tomorrow), ‘Silver Lake’ features a scene where Garfield’s character reaches out with a bloody hand and finds a copy of an “Amazing Spider-Man” comic stuck to his hand. However, in the interview, the actor reveals that it wasn’t added because of his own history.
“It was in the script when I read it,” said Garfield. “And I thought, oh, I wonder if David put this in as a meta thing? Just because I’m reading it? And I asked him about it, and he said, ‘No, that’s just in the script. Should we take it out? Maybe we should take it out.’ And I said, ‘No, I love it.’ I love that there are little subtle ways that the script is nodding to itself, and the film is nodding to itself and winking at the audience. I love all that stuff. I find that stuff really gleeful as an audience member.”
He continued, “I was really adamant we keep it in. I really enjoyed that feeling of something being stuck to you that you’d like to just be able to move on from. You know what I mean?”
Even though Garfield was excited about the reference to Spider-Man in the new film, that doesn’t mean that the actor is ready to only be remembered by the franchise that launched him into superstardom earlier this decade.
“I think I’ve been aware of that possibility that such a seminal iconic role can follow an actor around and it takes a lot to shift the consciousness of an audience, and shift the consciousness of people,” said Garfield. “But I feel like I’ve been really intense on doing that since finishing ‘Spider-Man.’ And I feel I just a bit more comfortable that I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve in a sense of just coming back to being known as an actor that is interested in lots of different kinds of stories and different kind of characters.”
READ MORE: Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, & Tom Holland Almost Made Appearances In ‘Spider-Verse’
Different stories and characters definitely seem to definitely describe Garfield’s post-’Spider-Man’ work. The actor has appeared in films like “99 Homes,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Breathe,” “Silence,” and of course, ‘Silver Lake.’ You’d be hard-pressed to find many commonalities between those films, and that’s probably a good thing for an actor trying to shed that Peter Parker public perception.
As mentioned, “Under the Silver Lake” is available tomorrow on VOD and in select theaters now.
