Monday, January 3, 2011

Andrew Garfield Says Tobey Maguire Gave His 'Spider-Man' Blessing

'It was generous of him to reach out and say something, so I'm thankful,' new Spidey tells BBC News.
By Terri Schwartz


Andrew Garfield
Photo: Jon Furniss/ Getty Images

One would expect that there were some hard feelings after Sony dropped their planned "Spider-Man 4" movie early this year and chose instead to pursue a reboot of the franchise focusing on a teenage Peter Parker. But the star of the upcoming "Spider-Man" film, Andrew Garfield, said that isn't the case.

In fact, during an interview with BBC News, Garfield said that, though he still hasn't met Tobey Maguire, the previous star of the "Spider-Man" franchise has willingly passed the torch to the young British actor.

"[Maguire] sent me a lovely message through a mutual friend," Garfield revealed. "He gave me his support, and it meant a great deal, of course, because part of the reason I love and have continued to love this character was because of his portrayal. To step into those shoes is no mean feat. It was generous of him to reach out and say something, so I'm thankful."

News that Garfield had been chosen to play Spidey was announced on July 1 after a series of casting rumors. This has been a big year for Garfield, as he earned his first Golden Globe nomination for his role in "The Social Network" and is likely to earn an Oscar nod as well. Maguire has been doing pretty well for himself since the news, too.

As a huge fan of Spider-Man since he was 4 years old, Garfield was thrilled to be cast as his comic book hero. This franchise is a big step away from his previous dramatic roles, but Garfield compared Stan Lee's comic books to a "modern kind of Greek mythology" in terms of their themes.

Filming began on the movie two weeks before Christmas, and the star confirmed that the footage is being shot in 3-D for its planned 2012 release. Garfield said footage was shown on the camera monitors in 3-D as well, so director Marc Webb and the rest of the production staff would sit behind the camera wearing their "silly glasses" while he and co-star Emma Stone performed.

As for his casting, Garfield told BBC News, "It's wonderful in theory, isn't it? You kind of go, 'Well, this is going to be great.' But then, of course, in practice, it's obviously a great deal of hard work and a great deal of pressure, but wonderful. It's incredible."

Check out everything we've got on "Spider-Man."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies -- updated around the clock -- visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

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