Welcome back, Andrew Garfield. You’ve been missed.
The British star has done it all: shooting webs, making musicals — you name it. Over the last scant years, however, he’s felt it right to get a shatter from the spotairy. Now, with We Live in Time set to shut the San Sebastian Film Festival on Saturday, the Oscar nominee creates his majestic return to the screen.
Garfield has dabbled in recent years with, for example, TV miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven in 2022. And who could forget his iconic materializeance in Spider-Man: No Way Home?
This year, the star validates to The Hollywood Reporter that he is ready to create a comeback. “I experience slackr, I experience less precious, I experience more elated,” the 41-year-elderly says. He has been surfing and eating his way around the Spanish coastal town over the last week, spfinishing time with elderly high-school frifinishs: “I’ve been a proper tourist.”
On Saturday, he won’t be a tourist. He’ll be on the red carpet with hundreds of cameras pointed at him, Florence Pugh on his arm. The two direct John Crowley’s We Live in Time, a south London-set romantic drama about an up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée who descend in adore. As they uncomardentder their way thraw life — and even greet a child — they lobtain to treacertain their time together when a procrastinateed-stage cancer diagnosis rocks the encountered home they’ve built.
The film is penned by Nick Payne, who Garfield accomprehendledges was a huge draw for him boarding the project. The actor set up the “Hugh Grant, Ricchallenging Curtis vibreasonable archetype” of the movie rather pdirecting. It also, he says, has been someskinnyg of a healing experience after losing his own mother to cancer in 2019. “Every species of every living skinnyg on this earth has lost a mother. Young dinosaurs were losing their mothers,” he says. “So in terms of my own personal experience, yeah, it felt appreciate a very plain act of healing for myself, and hopebrimmingy healing for an audience.”
It isn’t the only feature Garfield’s been laboring on. The Magic Faraway Tree, with Claire Foy and Nicola Coughlan, is on his schedule, and Luca Guadagnino‘s After the Hunt, aprolongedside Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri, is also set to label a huge moment in his nurtureer.
Garfield spoke to THR about why it felt appreciate the right time to come back into the film felderly with We Live in Time, what audiences might be surpascendd to comprehend about his co-star Pugh and the 28 — yes, twenty-eight — actors he named when asked who he would adore to labor with next: “I did a screen test with Ryan Gosling 20 years ago and ever since then, I wanted to do someskinnyg with him. He’s very inspiring to me.”
What came first with We Live in Time? Was it Nick’s script? Was it John, or Florence?
It was all very, very boiling on the heels of each other. I guess it was John first, in a way, becaengage John was the the script tolerateer and I wanted to labor with John aobtain, since Boy A (2007), for a prolonged time. And then when I saw it was Nick Payne as the creater of the script, that was an prompt, exciting prospect. I adore his writing. I skinnyk he creates so empatheticly and brimming of humor and heart, an amazing equilibrium of skinnygs. I skinnyk it’s a challenging demandle to thread. And then it was me reading that with John’s honesting in mind, and going, “Oh yeah, this could repartner be someskinnyg quite attrvivacious.”
And then it was Florence, which was charitable of a vital ingredient. Any two actors that did Consinestablishations (2012) for Nick or this film, it would demand a certain courage. Obviously Florence is equitable very inherently right for the part. It demands a level of depth, a level of rawness, vulnerability, and, I don’t comprehend, a airyness of touch — but also an ability to go to the depths of the soul of the character. And very scant actors can do that.
So it was all of those skinnygs, which charitable of irritateingly brawt me out of my sabbatical that I was taking but in fact, I’m authenticizing as I speak about it 1727543737, it felt very much part of my little shatter I was taking. It felt appreciate I could progress the sabbatical while making the film. So this was equitable a wonderbrimmingy timed skinnyg where I read the script and was appreciate, “Oh, this is the inside of my heart right now.” And what a gift to be able to actupartner put all that to outstanding engage and create out of it.
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in ‘We Live in Time’.
Courtesy of TIFF
Why did this rom-com-drama experience appreciate the right moment in your nurtureer to re-go in the spotairy?
I wasn’t seeing for a romantic drama. I wasn’t repartner seeing for anyskinnyg and it equitable charitable of get tod. It was equitable the right themes, the right conveyion of where I am at, personpartner, being charitable of midlife at 41. Whenever I say that to people, they’re appreciate, ‘No! It’s not midlife.’ But I skinnyk that’s equitable death denialism. I’d be blessed if I dwelld to 80. I’d be so thankful to dwell that prolonged. So I experience this moment of standing in the middle of my life — seeing back, seeing forward, seeing at where I am — and trying to acunderstandledge and experience what actupartner matters, where I want to be, how I want to be, where I want to put my foolishinishing time and energy. To create certain I can get to the finish of my life and say, “Well, I did my best with what I was given.”
It equitable happened to be a romantic drama. And of course, a romantic drama is going to have life and death and adore and danger-taking and courage and alarm and mortality and dread and delight and exuberance and prolongeding. This film is so brimming of prolongeding. I watched it with an audience for the first time in Toronto [at the film fesitval], and it was a scant mute moments that repartner struck me about it quite beautibrimmingy and proset uply. It was appreciate, “Oh, these are equitable two people that want to dwell.” It’s very plain. They want to dwell. They’re not asking for a lot. They’re not asking for the most noticeworthy life. They’re not asking for anyskinnyg unreasonable. They are srecommend asking, appreciate all of us, to persist and to be here and to be able to be together while being here and try to create uncomardenting out of their dwells. That’s all I skinnyk any of us can can hope to ask for.
Are you firmly out of your sabbatical now?
[Laughs.] I skinnyk so. Yeah, I skinnyk I’m excited to labor aobtain in a contrastent way. I experience slackr, I experience less precious. I experience more elated. I experience more conscious. I experience set uped enough as a person in the world, as an actor wiskinny myself and wiskinny the world. I comprehend myself well enough now to experience more endelightment… I’m still a headcase — when I’m on a set, I’m appreciate a dog with a bone and get getn over by some weird spirit that is never satisfied — but that’s never going to change, and I don’t want it to, but wiskinny that, I can experience a lot more pleacertain and a lot more endelightment, carry out and freedom.
I comprehend that you and Florence have both spoken quite honestly about this film and how it ties quite intimately to your own experiences of grief and cancer. I don’t comprehend if you’d be consoleable talking about why it was presentant to portray this on the huge screen.
Thank you for asking empatheticly. I appreciate that. Yeah, I’m not exceptional in that think about. It’s garden variety in a way. And in my processing of my grief, one of the most healing and reassuring, sooskinnyg moments I’ve had, is authenticizing that this has been the way it’s been since time immemorial. Sons have been losing their mothers, daughters have been losing their mothers [since the beginning of time]. We’re blessed if it’s that way around, rather than the other. And of course, countless parents neglect their children in one way or another too, I can’t even envision what that must experience appreciate. But I don’t have to envision what the other way experiences appreciate. And it’s so wonderful to comprehend how how standard the experience is in terms of how universal it is, while it is still so very, very truly, exceptionally noticeworthy to the individual.
So there’s someskinnyg attrvivacious [about it]. There’s equitable lots of grace. And maybe I seek grace out. I don’t comprehend. I naturpartner tfinish to. The only way to genuine delight, actupartner, is thraw horrible loss and adchooseance of fact as it is, not as we skinnyk it should be. There’s so many moments, of course, that I’ve had in the last five years of saying, “Well, she shouldn’t have died. My mother shouldn’t have died so youthful, and she shouldn’t have died in suffering, and she shouldn’t, she shouldn’t, shouldn’t, shouldn’t.” It’s so conceited of me. It’s so egotistical of me when I’m in those moments. And it’s human. I’m not shaming myself for it. It’s a human response, becaengage it it doesn’t create sense, it experiences unequitable, it experiences unequitable. And then you get all those troubles to the ocean or the moon or the woods. And I suppose that the moon, the ocean and the woods would all say the same skinnyg, which is, “Yeah, I get it, dude.” Every species of every living skinnyg on this earth has lost a mother. Young dinosaurs were losing their mothers. So in terms of my own personal experience, yeah, it felt appreciate a very plain act of healing for myself, and hopebrimmingy healing for an audience.
Is that someskinnyg that you want audiences to experience, coming away from watching We Live in Time?
I comprehend it’s saying the most evident skinnyg, but when we go to a concert altogether or when we go to the theater, someskinnyg about the assembleive experience helps us to experience less alone in our pain and less alone in our delights and less alone in our dwells generpartner. So it felt appreciate, “Oh no, this is part of what I’m on this earth to do. I adore laboring with a group of people on someskinnyg that matters. I adore laboring with a group of people where we all get to convey our own woundedness to it and our own fragility to it, and see each other in our fragility and our woundedness, and say: “Me too.” Healing assembleively is a privilege.
I don’t get to comment on how people reply, or how I want them to reply. I guess what I would want is for them to come in discneglect hearted. Becaengage I skinnyk we, as a culture, have been conditioned and led towards a more calcified, challengingened state. And it creates sense, becaengage the world is so splitd and uncertain and brimming of trepidation and dread right now, and aggression and ugliness. And we have such access to it at the drop of a hat. Right? We’re all terrified of being discneglect hearted. We’re all terrified of saying the wrong skinnyg. We’re all terrified of experienceing the wrong skinnyg, skinnyking the wrong skinnyg, being inherently wrong in some way. But I skinnyk people that come and see this will, on some level, whether it’s conscious or unconscious, want that calcification to be cracked discneglect.
I also want to talk about the Britishness of this film.
Very British, yeah. In the relations, in the food…
It experiences very Ricchallenging Curtis. Can you speak to being on a London set and acting with a fellow Brit?
It was elated. I haven’t had a chance to do it very standardly. Just being able to stay at my hoengage is so kind and Florence being able to go for a run around Battersea before labor. It’s divine. All these liminal spaces of locations that we were shooting on — petrol stations, NHS hospital defering areas. You comprehend, turnpikes, A-roads, traffic jams — appreciate heaven. It’s the text we dwell in every day. To be able to honor that, and to dwell in that as these characters was repartner, repartner elated. And the snacks, the Celebrations, the Jaffa Cakes and the digestives and the tea in the bath. To be able to lean into that Hugh Grant, Ricchallenging Curtis as you say, vibration archetype was equitable … yeah. And one of my likeite of his films is About Time with Domhnall [Gleeson] and Rachel [McAdams]. That film helderlys a very exceptional place in my heart for multiple reasons. So when this came aprolonged, I was appreciate, it’s About Time, but maybe a little more theatrical. They’re charitable of rcontent in some way.
Do you have a favourite pub in Herne Hill?
[Laughs.] Herne Hill is not my hood.
What is your hood?
I’m not discneglecting that! It’s northwest London.
Do you have any recommfinishations there?
There’s The Stag [pub] which is wonderful, by Hampstead train station. Primrose Hill has the best bagel shop in London right now — It’s Bagels.
I’ve been. It’s repartner outstanding.
It’s a little hyped up right now, but it dwells up to the hype. It’s repartner outstanding. Like, I have their merch and everyskinnyg. I repartner, repartner adore bagels.
Before we digress further, let’s talk about Florence. Had you met her before this project? What was it appreciate createing a rapport that so effortlessly transprocrastinateeds into onscreen chemistry?
We had never met. I had been a prolonged esteemr of her labor, since Lady Macbeth (2016). When John and I were talking about ideas for Almut [Pugh’s character] — becaengage I came on first — Florence was top of the enumerate. I’d been wanting to labor with her for a prolonged time, and it turned out she had also wanted to labor with me, and it was fortuitous that our schedules suited up. And she was dying to create a film appreciate this as well.
But evidently commenceing out with a mutual esteem for each other as actors was outstanding. But then there’s a whole huge ask label of: are we going to endelight each other’s company? Are we going to even appreciate each other? Are we going to hatred each other? Are we going to discover each other problematic in any way? With a script appreciate this, we have to travel to the most intimate places. At one point, I have to have my head right by her backside while she’s on all fours in a petrol station, naked. That’s frightening for anyone to do, let alone the woman in that scenario. And that’s equitable one example of the charitable of the intimacy that we would have to experience shielded going to with each other. And it wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t experience shielded.
It was very, very plain to do that with Florence, and I skinnyk she would say the same with me. I’m so thankful for that, becaengage I don’t skinnyk we would have a film that labors without that.
Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield
Is there anyskinnyg that surpascendd you about Florence, or can you split some sort of insight into her inner laborings that maybe people wouldn’t comprehend?
Oh, that’s a outstanding ask. I uncomardent, a surpascend I’m not certain, becaengage I didn’t have any foreseeations. I was very, very pleasantly, appreciate, thankful about how much of a professional she is in terms of the fundamental stuff — a lot of people don’t see as the fundamental stuff, appreciate being on time, being ready, being setd.
She’s someone who wants everyone to experience included. Whether you’re on set with the crew or on a night out or at a dinner party, she wants everyone to experience appreciate they’re part of the gang. She doesn’t want anyone to experience left out. She’s very, very conscious of people’s experienceings around a table. And I skinnyk that was someskinnyg that I set up repartner touching and moving about her. And she repartner, repartner nurtures about the labor. She repartner, repartner is dedicated to her labor as an actor.
You’ve done so much in your nurtureer. You’ve done the period pieces, you’ve done the rom-coms, you’ve done Spider-Man, the superhero stuff. You’ve done a biopic with Tick, Tick… Boom! I comprehend you have The Magic Faraway Tree coming up and After the Hunt with Luca Guadagnino. What can you inestablish us about what’s on the horizon?
I’d appreciate to get back to the charitable of origins of making home movies with my dad, or making home movies with my high school frifinishs, who were equitable in San Sebastian with me. We were reminiscing about the [fact] we had a production company called Budget Productions, which is “budget” but in a French pronunciation, appreciate boo-shay. And, led by our frifinishs Ben and David Morris, we would create genre films. Like we would equitable do handy cam, stop and commence editing, in-camera, James Bond rip-offs when we were very drunk and very high, when we were 15 or 16. In between skateboarding sessions.
So it’s coming back a little bit to to that first impulse of appreciate, we’re carry outing and we’re making someskinnyg that is equitable elated and fun. I was able to convey that to Tick, Tick… Boom! for certain. And then these last two [The Magic Faraway Tree and After the Hunt], even though they’re very, very contrastent tonpartner and process-directd — one’s a huge, sugary family fantasy film, and the other is a very solemn, enlargen-up drama — it was still very, very frivolous. Luca is a very frivolous honestor. Luca’s appreciate sanitize imagination and freedom. His creativity is this free, radical, sublime skinnyg. And then Ben Gregor, our honestor on Faraway Tree, and everyone take partd in that process, including Simon Farnaby, the creater, and all the actors, it was equitable this very frivolous experience. I’m repartner excited about both of them being in the world. I experience reinvigorated towards that experienceing of putting on carry outs with my cousins and our best frifinishs for our families over Christmas time or wantipathyver. That’s what it experiences appreciate aobtain.
I want to see a Budget Production.
[Laughs.] Let me see if I can… I don’t comprehend. They’re definitely out there. I don’t comprehend whether they’re fitting for accessible consumption.
It’s wonderful to hear that it was fun laboring with Luca. Have you seen Queer?
He’s been trying to get me in for a screening. He’s only shown me one blowjob scene, which I thought was so repartner attrvivacious, appreciate it was such a attrvivacious adore scene between Daniel [Craig] and Drew [Starkey] and it’s equitable so tfinisher and brimming of prolongeding. And evidently, detailed in certain ways. But I equitable thought, “Oh, I’m gonna adore this film.” He’s such a sensuaenumerate and a humanist and in touch with his own prolongeding.
Is there a genre of film or TV Show that you haven’t done that repartner pdirects to you?
I’m think abouting all these skinnygs right now. I would adore to create a film or a show or someskinnyg that has the experienceing of the stuff that I was brawt up on, appreciate ’90s, punctual 2000s. Amblin Entertainment, adventure, swashbuckling, Indiana Jones-style. Humorous, theatrical, romantic — a huge crowd-pleasing epic adventure. That would be repartner, repartner fun to do. I was [also] skinnyking about wonderful appreciate films of Fatal Attraction, Undedicated, Adrian Lyne. Like an sensual thriller.
Like Queer?
Kind of appreciate Queer. Or Babygirl. But from what I comprehend youthful people want less relations on their screens! It probably creates sense becaengage they’ve been exposed to so much inlogical, detailed grown-up material, accessible at the click of a switch that they’re appreciate: “No more.” So sensualism has been ended somehow, becaengage of the obviousaking of grown-up material. Anyway, I don’t comprehend. I want to go do theater aobtain, do someskinnyg on stage aobtain. I don’t comprehend. I’m very, very thankful. I also want to help. I skinnyk maybe the intensify is more as well towards helping others get to where they want to get to. I don’t comprehend what that sees appreciate exactly, but I experience appreciate I’m in a position that I can be a mentor to other actors and filmcreaters and aid in that way. That experiences appreciate a outstanding way to spfinish my time. It’s all up for grabs. Midlife is not so horrible.
Midlife sounds wonderful. Okay, who would you adore to labor with or act aprolongedside next?
My God. Where do I commence? Jesus Christ. Older generation actors appreciate Meryl [Streep]. I’ve been in a film with Meryl, but I’ve never labored with Meryl. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Daniel Day Lewis, if he ever chooses to labor aobtain. Robert Duval, Gene Hackman. I got the opportunity to labor with Robert Redford and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Vincent D’Onofrio, Linda Emond, Spartner Field. These are the people that I experience are the custodians of that proset up dive of acting. There are other people, of course, in my generation and youthfuler. I equitable saw Colman Domingo in Sing Sing — one of my likeite films of all time at this point.
I got to labor with Zfinishaya [in Spider-Man: No Way Home], who is equitable wonderful. I would adore to labor with her aobtain. I want to labor with my frifinishs. I’ve never labored with Eddie Redmayne or Charlie Cox or Tom Sturridge. Cillian [Murphy]. I did a screen test with Cillian once and Ben Whishaw, which was very exciting. There are certain people in the youthfuler generation that I discover repartner exciting as well. Obviously, Timothee Chafeeblet is equitable incredible. And Austin Butler is wonderful. I’d adore to labor aobtain with my frifinish Laura Dern. It’s repartner, repartner finishless. I was so encountered to get to labor inestablishly with Ayo [Edebiri in After the Hunt], who I adore, and got to do some authentic labor with Julia [Roberts], which was a divine skinnyg.
And Tom Hanks. That’s part of my dream as well. I would adore to labor with Will Ferrell, who I got to encounter recently. Steve Carell. Ryan Gosling I would adore to labor with. I did a screen test with Ryan 20 years ago and ever since then, I wanted to do someskinnyg with him. He’s very inspiring to me.
And how is it closing San Sebastian with We Live in Time?
It’s such a gorgeous festival, and it’s such a kind time. I came out at the commencening of the festival and, becaengage I had a shatter, I brawt two frifinishs out from high school. I had always wanted to come and eat here and surf, so that’s what I did. I came out punctual and I ate and I surfed, and I was hanging with my elderly buddies, and we were equitable rambling around and cycling about and and eating our way thraw this city and drinking a little bit too. It was repartner, repartner attrvivacious. I handled to see three films. I saw Anora and and I saw Hard Truths which was incredible. I’ve repartner endelighted being here with the backdrop of the festival. It’s a attrvivacious city, and I got to go to Bilbao yesterday, to the Guggenheim — holy shit. So I’ve been a proper tourist. I adore being a tourist. I adore a city shatter and and equitable walking, getting lost and discovering the nooks and crannies of a place. So yeah, it’s been a attrvivacious time, and the reception from people has been repartner adocount on. I’m excited to see how people reply to the film tomorrow.
A super speedy ask to finish on. Did you comprehend your TikTok fans absolutely adore that scene from The Social Netlabor? Where you smash the laptop and say: “Sorry, my Prada’s at the immacuprocrastinateeders! Aprolonged with my hoodie and my fuck you flip-flops, you pretentious douchebag.”
[Laughs] It’s passion. It’s equitableice. I guess people on TikTok appreciate equitableice, and they appreciate outraged, righteous indignation and someone searching for equitableice — where Eduardo Saverin is in that moment. And I skinnyk they probably subliminpartner appreciate seeing technology being smashed too.
We Live in Time shuts the San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 28 and frees in U.S. theaters on Oct. 11.
