Andrew Garfield: free from Hollywood's web

For our impromptu and informal Actors Month, members of Team Experience were free to choose any actor they wanted to discuss. Here's David on Hollywood's outgoing Spider-Man.

Andrew Garfield wasn't made for Hollywood; an interview with Vulture last year saw him raging at the very convention of interviews themselves, tired of the constant insistence on self-analysis and invasion of privacy. He was, however, born in Los Angeles, with a father who dreamt of Hollywood - but the Garfield family moved back to his mother's English homeland when Andrew was just four years old. Now he is, by his own admission, firmly transatlantic, "equally at home in both places". He has fulfilled his father's latent dreams of movie stardom, but Garfield grew up on the British stage, an arena where character comes first and celebrity is a rare imposition. Many commentators have made note of how many British actors have taken on major roles in Hollywood franchises, but none seem so conflicted and contradictory about their place there as Garfield.

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Welcome Back Andrew Garfield

Murtada is happy that Andrew Garfield is no longer a superhero. You?

Vince Vaughn and Garfield in the first picture from Hacksaw Ridge

Andrew Garfield recently started production on Mel Gibson's World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge in Australia. The movie is based on the life of Desmond T. Doss, the first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor after saving dozens of soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa.

Hacksaw Ridge will mark Andrew Garfield’s third post Spider-Man film. Coming in 2016 is Martin Scorsese’s Silence and he’s currently in cinemas with 99 Homes. From 28 to 31 years of age, Garfield was only the web-slinger. Some think he squandered the promise he showed in Boy A and The Social Network. Garfield himself was torn about what he had accomplished, saying in a recent interview:

I never felt like I was able to do enough. And I couldn’t rescue those films…even though I didn’t sleep. [laughs]. And I wanted to…not to say that I needed to rescue those films, but I couldn’t make them as deep and soulful and…life-giving as I could ever dream. And I’m never gonna be able to do that, with any film. It was especially difficult in that situation because…well, just because. And it was especially important because that character has always meant so much to me.

Garfield in 99 Homes

If 99 Homes is any indication there’s no reason to worry. Playing a construction worker who loses his home in the aftermath of the 2008 housing crisis, Garfield is effortlessly affecting as he deals with the shame and grief of losing everything and hitting rock bottom. While he is overshadowed by Michael Shannon’s blistering embodiment of “Americana”, the movie works because Garfield grounds it with a natural soulfulness that reminded this viewer of Mark Ruffalo at his best.

Garfield is obviously someone who feels a lot. Read that quote above again. Doesn’t the story of a heroic conscientious objector seem like a perfect fit? To prove the point about all the feels he feels, we’ll leave you with what he said about working with Emma Stone.

"Working with Emma was like diving into a thrilling, twisting river and never holding on to the sides. From the start. To the end. Spontaneous. In the moment. Present. Terrifying. Vital. The only way acting with someone should be."

Silence/Silencio First Look

Manuel here sharing first looks from two upcoming films from celebrated auteurs that happen to share a title, one which would urge us to stay quiet but when you’re talking about Martin Scorsese and Pedro Almodóvar, there’s no way you’ll get us to shut up.

Scorsese’s Silence, based on Shusako Endo’s 1966 novel, focuses on the persecution of Christians in 17th century Japan. It finished shooting last month and EW shared its first image a few weeks ago, which features Andrew Garfield and Shinya Tsukamoto. The still suggests we’re in for a more serious-minded effort than Scorsese’s last (The Wolf of Wall Street). The film also stars Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano and Adam Driver.

While Scorsese’s film looks to be an all-male ensemble, trust Almodóvar to use his newest film Silencio to return to his actressy roots. Filming for the director’s twentieth film began last month. In the vein of Volver, Almodóvar notes that Silencio centers on Julieta (Adriana Ugarte), a woman who is, to use the director’s parlance, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the roots of which the film explores, offering us flashbacks to her life thirty years prior. The film also stars a number of Almodóvar newcomers like Michelle Jenner and Emma Suárez but it also features the gorgeous (and recent Cannes juror) Rossy de Palma.

Which “silent” film are you most looking forward to in 2016? And, seeing as that’s probably an unfair question given TFE’s actressexual proclivities, let us ponder this: does Garfield following up Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes with a Scorsese film getting you excited about his post-Spidey choices?

We Exist

Always up for movie stars headlining music videos. Here's Andrew Garfield in Arcade Fire's "We Exist"

Linksy

TV Blend Mad Men Season 7 key art features a famous graphic designer - April 13th, y'all
My New Plaid Pants first pic of Dane Dehaan as James Dean in yet another bio of the actor
/Film gross... the proposed reboot of Zorro is going to be Dark Knight-esque. Good god, Hollywood, be smarter. Anyone interested in Zorro, its own brand which is why you're rebooting it, is going to expect light swashbuckling FUN.  

New Now Next Teen Wolf adding a third gay character for season 4. (Weird that they haven't expanded the opening credits sequence to feature the other regulars from the ever expanding show.)
Towleroad RuPaul teaches his Pit Crew to "Sissy That Walk"
Guardian Idris Elba providing the voice of Shere Khan in the new live action/CGI Jungle Book
Fashionista costume designer extraordinaire Janie Bryant on what's next for her after Mad Men wraps
i09 on 30 cult movies everyone should see once. I love this type of list except for when they put something totally mainstream on it. It's mostly solid until Lost Boys? nope. try again. Saw it in theaters opening weekend, had a major release not cult at all but standard grab for teen audience. I think it was even a minor hit.
Gawker Lindsay Lohan already complaining about her reality show's portrait of her 
Attitude Jamie Lee Curtis, suddenly busy again, in addition that pilot she's shooting is producing a biopic film about a gay baseball player 
/bent has a handy list of all the LGBT filmmakers on twitter. Follow! 

This is what Glenn Close was wearing underneath her long dress! She wins.Oscar Crumbs
... the internet is still sweeping up the party
Confabulations Brian (StinkyLulu) and Aaron discuss the Oscars
Gothamist Poor Leo. Now his 1990s teen self is appearing all over Manhattan 
My Space you must read this hilarious Oscar report from Jennifer Lawrence's bestie. 

❝I am one of maybe two non-famous people there. I kind of just sit there and smile creepily when someone catches me staring—shout out to Penelope Cruz.❞

wimp a pretty amazing video of the control room during an acceptance speech (Cuba Gooding Jr's in this case)... and this reminds me how glad we are that they didn't play people off this year
Guardian oh, so that's why Andrew Garfield wasn't at the Oscars! 
Dissolve on social media and the Oscars 
Slate really fun conversation about sexism and actress backlashes that's focused on Gwynnie, Hathaway, and the recent success of Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita Nyong'o 

Today's Watch
This video from the Oscars official account is titled in such a way that you think it's going to be a history of Best Actress but it's just about Oscar with famous Actresses educating you on the history of AMPAS: Katharine Hepburn, Olivia de Havilland, a brunette Grace Kelly (!!!) and Anne Bancroft who wins with a little winking trivia about Oscar gaining weight.