Andrew Garfield Bares His Soul

Andrew Garfield has been remarkably candid about his experience of grieving the loss of his mother, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2019. So when he first read Nick Payne’s script for We Live in Time, the British star felt an immediate connection to its exploration of love and loss. Directed by John Crowley, the film follows Garfield’s Tobias and Florence Pugh’s Almut as they fall in love, build a life together, and confront the heartbreak of an untimely death. While it might seem natural to avoid a project so entwined with personal grief, Garfield, now 41, saw it as an opportunity to delve deeper into his emotions.

We Live in Time is about profound loss but also great joy. Your mother died not that long ago and it is interesting that you were attracted to a project that was so emotional.

I was in the midst of a period of reflection and harvesting of the things in my life. Looking back, looking forward as a 40-year-old person who knows loss in a very intimate way. It was like, now what? I really didn’t have a good answer. I was just going to sing into the abyss until a response came. And a melody came, in the form of We Live in Time. The script spoke to me about the shortness and sacredness of life, and about living with courage and boldness and vulnerability in the face of the inevitable greater opponent. Everything dies, everything gets lost, and we have to reckon with that simple fact.

I thought it might add to your sadness.

No. As artists, we work with the raw material of our own lives, of our own heartaches. I get to alchemize, transmute, sublimate whatever my soul is going through. And, hopefully, the film can be a generous act for an audience. The best art is the stuff where the artist’s hands reach through the screen or the book or whatever and say, “You’re not alone.”

You worked with the director, John Crowley, previously on Boy A. What was it like to reunite?

For the past 16 years, we’ve been looking for something to make together. John would email me every two years and say, “This might be the one,” and it never quite was. Then he sent this one and said, “This actually might be the one where we get back together.” I read it and immediately thought, Yeah, this is for me.

You star opposite Florence Pugh. Was she the first choice for the role of Almut?

Yes, Florence was at the top of our list. She's someone I've admired since Lady Macbeth. Everything she does is magic.

You both are forces, but different types of forces.

Yeah, [Tobias] is gentle and quieter. He’s not Eduardo Saverin [the cofounder of Facebook, whom Garfield portrayed in The Social Network], blowing the doors off and smashing the laptop. I got to employ a different type of strength and solidity. There’s a more quiet, inner knowing of my own worthiness and dignity, rather than having to scream at people. Florence’s character, Almut, is more so a typhoon of a person, a dynamic, ambitious mover and shaker. It always felt equal. There was a reciprocal generosity that I felt with Florence in this film. I felt very supported in my work, as I hope she did in hers.

What is your secret skill? I know you surf.

I'm not a very good surfer. I love surfing. It's one of my favorite things to do, but the reason why is because I don't have to be good at it. I can just enjoy it. It's one of the few things in my life that's just for me. So I feel very passionate about that sport. I’m pretty good at Ping-Pong. I’m pretty arrogant about it too! I have my own paddle, a Timo Boll butterfly paddle.

Last summer, did you watch the table tennis competition at the Olympics?

Yes, of course. I watched everything. BMX, skateboarding, kayaking. Who knew kayaking could be so damn exciting? I didn’t watch breakdancing, apart from Raygun. That was a surreal moment. I watched her live and thought, Is this someone kind of trying it for the first time? And she’s become a global icon now, which is amazing.

Are you more like a cat or a dog?

Dog, of course. I have no aloofness. I love affection constantly. I’m a pack animal. I love being with the gang. I’m always looking for treats, warmth, coziness, comfort, and play. I’m a dog, but I’m a very vanilla dog, like a Golden Retriever or Lab. Very rambunctious.

And dogs can surf.

Yeah, it’s a goal of mine to have a dog that can surf. And a child. If I ever have a child and they’re up for it, I want to be on a big, soft-top board holding my kid. I have to get better at surfing, though, in order to take on the responsibility of any other life on a surfboard.

What’s your favorite reality show?

Right now, The Traitors. The British version. I love the American version, but the British version, with Claudia Winkleman, is the greatest. I don't know if there's a better television show that's ever been made. My guilty pleasure is Too Hot to Handle on Netflix. Fuck, it’s really good. A bunch of hot men and women think they’re going on a Love Island–type show. They’re all horny and hot, and then they find out they can only win the prize money if they don’t fuck each other. The competition is run by this Alexa kind of robot, and she tells them, “You’ve all been selected because you are terrified of intimacy. You will be here for a week, and if you do anything physically that is not born out of a true emotional connection, you will be fined.” And an amazing thing happens: These people start to reveal their traumas, and suddenly they’re softening and they're vulnerable. It’s a very beautiful thing.

What’s your pet peeve?

Lateness. Especially for specific things like theater. I will kill a bitch. I will cut somebody. You don't do that unless there's an emergency. I struggle with disrespect for other people’s time.

Do you ever try to manifest things?

No, not really. I wouldn't deign to think I knew better than the universe. I’m open, I’m here. I have lots of longing in my body and my heart, but there’s a difference between self-will and—for want of a better word—god’s will.

Do you get starstruck?

I get starstruck an uncomfortable amount. I wish I didn't, because I literally feel like I have a freeze response sometimes. Even if it's a person I know I would get along with, I just get overwhelmed. When I met Tom Hanks, I was like, I can't look at you. But I'm getting better at it. The Governors Awards was a beautiful night, but there were a few people there that I struggled to make eye contact with. I just try to remember that everyone is a person, and I’m a person. Because when people get starstruck with me, I'm like, “What is wrong with you?” It is such a surreal experience because I know my foibles so deeply. I know my humanness. I am humbled constantly by myself and by my own choices.

Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Hair for portfolio by Paul Hanlon at Dawes & Co.; makeup for portfolio by Sam Visser at Art Partner; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders James. Set design by Gerard Santos at Lalaland.

Creative producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Leonard Cuinet-Petit at January Productions; producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Kevin Isabelle; produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; associate producer: Kimmy D’Ancona; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinators: Miranda Dos Santos, Susan Lucas; photography assistants: John Neate, Jed Barnes, Chris Whitaker, Kendall Peck; digital technician: Niccolo Pacilli; digital assistant: Cassian Gray; postproduction by Dreamer Post Production; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, Celeste Roh, Raea Palmieri, Tatiana Isshac, Haleigh Nickerson, Lauren Marron, Savannah Steilner, Sage McKee, Frankie Benkovic, Kaley Azambuja, Tatum Sanchez; production assistants: Gigi Rosenfield, Lily Cordingley, Eli Cash, Lex Vaughn, Anderson Renno, Kat Saravia, Kyle Dekker, Wyatt Noble, Brandon Martin, Moose Krupski, Josh Muwwakkil, Bradley Gonsalves, Drew Carter, Thomas Lynch, Alex Kofman, Jackson Schrader, Anatalia Zavaleta, Joseph Wride, Matt Flynn; first AD: Steve Kemp; location manager: Kyle Hollinger; hair assistants: Kim Garduno, Ben Gregory, Marco Iafrate, Hyacinthia Faustino, Chris Foster; makeup assistants: Shimu Takanori, Laura Dudley, Brian Dean, Beatrice Sandoval; manicure assistant: Cheyenne Vander Schuur; set design assistants: Seth Powsner, Denver Stoddard, Ryan Johnson; tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Ripsime Vartanyan, Jackie Martirosyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.