The Case for Andrew Garfield Winning Best Actor
Thursday, January 6, 2022 at 2:00PM By Ben Miller
Garfield at The Hollywood Reporter actor's roundtableWill Smith has had his name chiseled into the Best Actor Oscar since we first laid eyes on the trailer for King Richard. It's a foregone conclusion, no need to pay attention to anyone else. As with Best Actor last season and Best Actress 2018, everyone knows who is going to win, so it doesn't matter who the Academy votes for! If your memory is fogging up, it's because those "foregone conclusion" frontrunners in 2018 and 2020 did not, in fact, take home the trophy.
2021 may well repeat history as Andrew Garfield campaigns, charms, and web-slings his way into the conversation to take home Best Actor on Oscar night. Let's break down the reasons why Garfield could walk away with the trophy...
He's campaigning
The THR Actor's Roundtable, relentless interviews, talk-show appearances - the man is putting in the work. It might be off-putting to some critics and fans, but the Academy loves when an actor shows them how much they want it. More than anything, the older members of the Academy want their awards to mean something and a young actor showing how much it means to them translates to voters.
He's absolutely everywhere. You can find him at the aforementioned roundtable, talking about his love for Cobra Kai, how much he values being Jewish, or just waxing poetic about Lin-Manuel Miranda during Tick, Tick...BOOM!
Charm, charm, charm
Just look at that handsome man! Not only does the Academy love some eye candy up on the stage, Garfield has shown his innate ability to be eloquent. The last thing the ceremony needs is someone who gets up there and stammers on, which would not be a problem for Garfield.
Even though his evangelical preacher role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye doesn't exactly invite sympathy, he's relentlessly charming. Plus, his return to the role of Peter Parker was almost completely about charisma. Speaking of...
Spider-Man
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now a monster smash in a time where blockbusters aren't supposed to be happening at all. NWH became the highest grossing film of 2021 in only 14 days of release with $572 million. That's more than double the second-place film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. As of this writing, it's now the ninth highest domestic grossing film of all-time. That kind of money and popularity is hard to deny. Sony agrees, because the studio is pushing the film for Best Picture (Nathaniel got into that two weeks ago).
Who got the best reviews from the film? Garfield. Not only did it give his character redemption from the tepid reaction to his two outings as the web-slinger, but his performance added a level of closure to that series' best and worst elements.
Will Smith vulnerability
When King Richard debuted, a bevy of journalists exclaimed it to be the Best Picture frontrunner, along with Smith. Since the film's November release, the buzz has definitely dissipated. I'm not the first to doubt that he has this Oscar in the bag. The only lasting precursor attention (so far) from King Richard has been Aunjanue Ellis.
As with Best Actor 2020 or Best Actress 2018. It's easy to make fun of those "Anonymous Oscar Voter" pieces, but there is something to them. In both cases, the voters felt like the race was a foregone conclusion and a coronation to the assumed victor (Glenn Close and Chadwick Boseman). With that in mind, they each voted for the performance they felt more passion towards (Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins). Come Oscar night, the assumed victor went home empty-handed. Don't be surprised when this year's pieces come out and you get "Will Smith is going to win, but I voted for Andrew Garfield"
He's REALLY good in Tick, Tick...BOOM!
It would be one thing if Garfield was pulling a Rami Malek and rallying votes for a film/performance with sketchy quality, but Tick, Tick...BOOM! won near-universal acclaim from both critics and audiences. Not only is the film great, Garfield is great in it. And unlike Malek, Garfield does his own singing.
Outside of the musical elements, Garfield embodies Broadway composer Jonathan Larsen with a dripping desperation but eternal hopefulness. And like a true great leading performance, he doesn't outshine his co-stars, he enhances each with an easy chemistry, whether it's Robin de Jesus, Alexandra Shipp, or Vanessa Hudgens.
I personally view the 2021 Best Actor race as a competition between Garfield and Benedict Cumberbatch. Sound off on what you think.
Andrew Garfield, Best Actor, Spider-Man, Tick tick Boom, Will Smith
Reader Comments (18)
I mean I love Andrew Garfield and he's brilliant in the film but if anyone is going to beat Smith (who I think deserves to win personally, he is truly magnetic in King Richard) it will be Cumberbatch. Also I would love for a POC actor to win in the lead category again!
If the nominees are
Cage
Cumberbatch
Garfield
Smith
Washington
I would rank their chances (*at this moment*)
Garfield
Washington
Cumberbatch
Smith
Cage
There, I said it.
I don't think Andrew Garfield has a chance. He's definitely nominated, though, but this won't be the film that snags him an Oscar (if he were to ever win one).
I think this is absolutely between Smith ("overdue" star narrative in a biopic that's been well-received, even if overall buzz has faded, he can hold on) and Cumberbatch (a big star giving his best performance in the critical darling of the year and potential BP frontrunner).
Andrew Garfield would be the hottest and most fuckable Best Actor champ since... ever!
I'm not a fan of Will Smith, and being a hardcore anti-Williams sisters fan aids my distaste for the movie.
I enjoyed Cumberbatch a lot in The Power of the Dog. He'd be a worthy winner.
When are we going to live in a world where "commoners" like me can actually see these films before the new year?
He was also sensational in Mainstream. Since I won't be watching Power of the Dog and I thought Smith should've won for Ali, Garfield is my personal winner this year.
He is definitely too young and too hot to win. You could say the same thing about Rami Malek, but he was on a hot streak career wise, in a billion dollar picture, and his closest competition was a previous winner. Casey Affleck was young-sh too, but he was over 40, had a ton of arty good will given all of his indie pictures, and his closest competition was gunning for his third.
I really loved Garfield, and I think the strongest case for him is just how good his performance is. I think he blows the competition away quite easily. However, I think Netflix will let him down - they're heavily invested in The Power of the Dog. I suspect they've let a BP nomination for tick tick boom slip them by, rather than push for that as a boost to Garfield.
It's between Cumberbatch and Smith. Smith has a ton of good will, star power, and has made hollywood a ton of a money. Cumberbatch is in a well loved film playing a complicated character with a big campaign. Sadly, I think Garfield is out.
I do think, if Denzel gets a nomination, the momentum for his 3rd will be undeniable and we'll end up with a Streep in 2011 situation, where he gets the award next time no matter what.
I liked Smith and Cumberbatch I just though Garfield was more winning in his role,i'd never heard of the guy he was playing before and he totally won me over from his first scene plus he's been great now for over a decade,he'd be my pick.
Tony I don't understand how people can compose a list without seeing all nominees and those talked about performances and also outliers with no buzz.
If you don't see POTD how can you compose a list of nominees for Best Director without seeing what Jane Campion has done in the film,Dunst is good,Cumberbatch better and Smitt McPhee outstanding and Plemons is fine as usual.
@ Joe G.
I'm curious to see what Netflix does if a) tick, tick...BOOM!, The Power of the Dog and Don't Look Up all get nominated for Best Picture*; b) Cumberbatch, Garfield and DiCaprio for Best Actor; c) Dunst, Negga and Buckley for Supporting Actress; and d) Campion and McKay for Directing...
*not to mention The Lost Daughter and Passing
Love Garfield in the movie, but this is another case of Saoirse in Lady Bird: Worthy performance by a young actor that is going to be ignored.
The race is between Smith, the presumed winner, and Cumberbatch, the critics' favorite.
@Mr. Ripley
I watch 100 to 120 movies in any given year, but I can't see everything.
I had the misfortune of more or less being spoiled re: Power of the Dog by critics and Film Twitter folk who thought they were being sneaky with their tweets, but weren't sneaky enough.
That coupled with my disinterest in Campion and my growing tired of westerns plumbing toxic masculinity and latent sexuality (the genre has been doing it since at least the 50s) means I don't feel like the film is essential to 2021. Not for me anyways. Blame the critics for spoiling movies on social media by waxing thematic about subtext far too much.
A film garnering Oscar buzz doesn't mean anything to me if I ultimately lose interest in the project. Same thing with Belfast. I have no interest in watching it, regardless of buzz. In that case it's just not my cup o' tea. I don't need White Roma.
It’s a triumph of publicity and marketing that Will Smith has been positioned as the front runner. I wonder if most people don’t have a list of 5 to 10 other lead actor performances that they actually like better.
I think I would have liked tick tick boom more if I had seen it in a theatre. At home, as soon as Garfield started to be anxious about turning 30, I thought, What? Impossible! I stopped the movie and looked up Garfield’s age. 38. He’s close to turning 40, not 30.
And that interruption influenced my view of his performance, interpreting his energy displays as trying to convince us that he is actually a decade younger.
I was also a bit skeptical of the “white male artist thinks his genius justifies treating the people around him like shit”. For me, his most used notes are a mix of self-pity and self- congratulation.
And yet, all the reasons you cite make him an very viable candidate for a nomination. And I would certainly prefer a nomination for him over some others.
Smith is not a lock to win. Does anybody else have a feeling he isn't particularly well liked by the industry? Just a gut feeling I have. And his wife seems rather unbearable.
@ Michael R
Never mind that gut feeling, trust Google. ;-)
The most compelling things about Will & Jada are their now openly non-monogamous relationship and their queer kids.
How does anyone here think that Cumberbatch has a chance? Whenever there are two supposed Best Actor frontrunners in a "close" race, the biopic performance ALWAYS beats the critically acclaimed original character (Penn vs Rourke, Redmayne vs Keaton, Hoffman vs Ledger).
Andrew Garfield actually has a greater shot against Will Smith because of this. The Academy ever reliably salivates over comparing an actor's performance to pre-existing footage of the person they're emulating, and Garfield has managed to magnetize those "he IS Jonathan Larson!" critiques.
Cumberbatch, also playing a crucial role in the new Spider-Man movie, might also get a boost from that film’s huge commercial success.
MJC --- but don't you have netflix? two of those are on netflix (easy for "commoners" haha) and King Richard was on HBO for a month.
Colin -- i agree on cumberbatch. i still think Smith will win but i can see the case for Garfield. I cant really see if for Cumberbatch. History is FILLED to the brim with performances that hogged the critics awards and then lost the Oscar.
Some of these arguments could be used for Cumberbatch as well. He was also a big part of the the Spider-Man movie (one could argue that the whole film is a set up for his upcoming one) and he is charming/handsome (personally I don't think so, but the internet has been disagreeing with me on that for a decade)
The only way I see Garfield winning is if Cumberbatch and Smith split votes and he comes from third to first.
@ TomG
But exactly which bloc of voters would Smith and Cumberbatch be splitting? It’s more likely that Garfield and Cumberbatch split the “British vote,” or something like that. You could even say that Smith and Washington split the “Black vote,” or that Garfield and Dinklage split the “musicals vote”…