Unlike most starving eaters suddenly presented with a full plate, however, he doesnt rush.
Theres a sense that Garfield wants to savor every bite, to really take in the taste of things.
Besides, whats the hurry?
Andrew Garfield in ‘We Live in Time’Peter Mountain/A24
Better to take your time and really enjoy it.
(It opened wide this past weekend.)
The opportunity to slow things down and really absorb what was happening around him was a necessity.
Now he wanted to take a moment to figure out what might be next.
I think thats definitely part of it.
Proceed as an artist or as a person?Both, really.
And theres kind of a lot of fantastic ego death that happens.
This sounds like a midlife crisis.Some people would call it a midlife crisis.
I would call it a midlife rejiggering, reassembling, reordering.
I think it has a lot to do with losing my mother as well.
I think we all go through this natural shift.
But then this film felt like it was asking all the same questions that I was asking anyway.
But as an actor, youre dependent on, you know, a crew and a budget …
I had the opportunity to participate in something that was the shape of my soul in that very moment.
And it was just a kind of beautifully aligned synchronicity.
Its real kismet that it came around when it did.
I do think audiences are longing for these particular stories right now.
You mean seeing movies about the human experience?
At the same time, it felt like we didnt rush it.
Its interesting, we didnt feel that we had to force or push anything.
The back and forth we had in playing these characters just happened very quickly and very organically.
When you say you trust too easily, do you mean …Humans.
But you know that that has been troublesome in certain ways for me.
It feels unfortunate but naive to think otherwise.
So I started off trying to just be very professional: Lets see if this might work.
I think she felt the same with me.
I think we managed to find a comfort and a kind of ease with each other.
Because look: Its a weird job, what we do.
Its like this little bubble of safety.
And then you get to go, Well, that was fun.
You get warmed up, you establish a connection then the whole thing wraps and you go home.Right!
Then you kind of start dreaming about other collaborations you could do together.
Which wed both like to do.
Lets do more of this.
Whats the invisible thread between this point and this point?
Did working on this change how you think about those things in your own life?Completely.
And there are certain things that, you know …
It was one of those Oh, my God moments of connection.
I think thats whats beautiful about life when youre living it, hopefully, aligned to your own instincts.
I think thats what the film does quite beautifully.
Did you feel a shift after that had come out, personally or professionally?Definitely.
It felt very current and somehow very timeless.
Which, you know, thats Aaron [Sorkin] and David [Fincher].
Obviously, theyre brilliant.
Your character is the conscience of the film.Hes kind of the conscience, yeah.
If the film has a heart, hes it.
Whether that portrayal was true to life or not is kind of up for grabs.
I did feel like, Oh, wow, fuck, something just shifted.
Its like its the kind of dream scenario that we all wish we could play out in some degree.
Smashing a laptop felt like wish fulfillment in 2010.
Now …It would feel like something 100 times more cathartic [laughs].
And I was like, Nope because he was my hero since I was a skater kid.
Spike was putting together this short film, and he was like, Mark tells me youre an actor.
OK, well, I might send you a thing.
And Im like, [Gulp.]
Sure, sure, sure.
Then I worked with him on his shortIm Here.
I was like, No, no, no.
This is Andrew Garfield!
Hes meant to be in the Facebook movie!
So its all these different connections.
I felt a shift for sure.
Lets talk aboutDeath of a Salesmanfor a second.
And every day, every moment there was something.
There was one thing that he said to me.
And he said, You know what?
I just really dont worry about you at all.
Im like, Oh my god.
[In Mike Nichols voice] Well, because youre just like me.
You really dont think highly of yourself.
Its not going anywhere.
The divine dissatisfaction will always take care of itself.
Youre not meant to think youre any good.
And in fact, thats the thing that will keep you being in some realm of watchable.
It was just the thing I needed to hear.
You know how people become better tennis players by playing tennis with better players?
Was that what it was like acting against Philip Seymour Hoffman every night on that stage?Yes!
But, yeah, the time I spent with Phil holds a very special place in my heart.
Hes still one of my favorite actors of all time.
It was like hes just a kind of divining rod for the truth, you know?
Either way, it was such a great compliment to get from him!
And it was hard locations, all these scenes out in the wilderness of Taiwan.
Lotta big, long walks up big hills.
Martys not a young man anymore.
But he was sprightly, joyful.
And then occasionally he would require absolute silence on set, which I absolutely adored.
But he was just joyful, cracking jokes and having a good time.
Well, that pope was known for his sense of humor.[Laughs.]
A hilarious pope, yes.
Were all being paid to do the most lucky fucking job in the world.
Who are we if were not gonna squeeze every single drop of juice out of the orange?
Like, thats a privilege what were doing.
So that was his whole spirit during that.
And then Luca, hes another radical artist.
He will do one or two takes, and then well move on.
So that was the main difference there.
But again, someone who is exuberant and joyful and passionate and very Italian.
All three of them are visionaries, in my mind.
Does it surprise you thatUnder the Silver Lakehas morphed into this modern cult classic?
Theres a real cult behind that movie now.Im really glad that people have come around to it.
So I think thats what David [Robert Mitchell, the director] wanted.
David wanted peoples obsession to get stoked, just like his obsession is stoked in the film.
I mean, its an obsessive movie.
But it really is like the most bastardized version of a Viktor Frankl story, though.
You know, the idea of: What do we have that is meaningful anymore?
You have a tendency to play a lot of people with religious affiliations that are spiritual seekers.
You would include him in that list as well?One hundred percent.
There was definitely a spiritual element to playing Jonathan, I think.
Hes just worshiping at the altar of musical theater.
Hes praying to the ancestors.
Theres definitely a religious thing there.
I had a year to prep, and it was life-changing.
And I think storytelling is its own spiritual practice.
The same goes for art.
I mean, not every role is for me.
Even the people producing them were like, You realize this is, like, your Oscar film!
And I was like, I actually dont think so.
I think it may be someone elses.
Because if I do it, its for the wrong reason.
How did that make you feel?
Justified?It made me feel jealous as fuck, of course!
The bigger feeling, however, was: No regrets.
No regrets at all.
This was meant for this person.
You dont want to take something just because you think it can win you an award.
This is maybe his first go around, if you believe in reincarnation.
The whole thing was just a poor, diluted translation of the Hebrew word.
And he was like, [In Jim Bakkers voice] Oh.
There are only four people who understand what its like to be the Beatles.
[Laughs] A hilarious comparison!
Yeah, I know what you mean.
It reminds me of a moment on set where we shot some really fun stuff.
It was feeling really, really good.
I want to fight aliens!
And Tobys like, Hey, man, no, youre great, youreamazing.Dont be hurt.
Its like, my Parker needed to hear that.Ineeded to hear that.
Its not just me feeling this?
And each of us was like, Yeah, this is really … no.
Lets go talk to Jon [Watts, the director].
So we all go up to him, hes standing by the monitors, and we say, Jon.
Its not going to work.
Hes like, What are you talking about?
Its the greatest fucking moment in the movie!
Its just the three of us standing there, sticking up for each other.
And all of us look at him and go, Oh, yeah, thats good.
Sold [laughs].
Its just like, forgive the expression, a fans wet dream.
And its moments like that where you realize how special that thing the three of us share really is.
How much musical theater had you done prior toTick Tick …
Boom!?None.
What are you gonna do?
The necessity of honoring someone like him was all the fuel I needed.
And so Im trying to reestablish a relationship with this thing, because it is different now.
My priorities are changing, my longings are changing.
For that, Im very, very fucking grateful.
