Andrew Garfield is the favorite Peter Parker among the three actors who have brought the character to the screen. Fans loved how the actor was able to bring many emotions into the character, especially the romantic chemistry with Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. However, he almost quit the character when he had to film the most difficult scene with Stone in the film.
Fans mourned alongside Garfield’s Peter in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when he couldn’t save the love of his life. It is hard to forget the moment when Peter’s web caught Gwen a little too late, resulting in her death. In real life, Garfield felt the pressure while filming the scene where Peter’s world shatters into pieces.
Andrew Garfield Recalls Filming The Most Difficult TASM Scene with Emma Stone
Andrew Garfield undoubtedly had the most devastating scene to film in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The death of Gwen Stacy is a moment that is still discussed among movie buffs. Spider-Man: No Way Home even made Garfield’s Peter relive the moment in a scene, only this time he caught Zendaya’s MJ in time.
During his appearance on the ReelBlend podcast, Garfield reflected on his memories of filming the sad scene. He recalled being excited when he first read the script, believing the moment was crucial to the canon. However, as the time to film the scene got close, he began to feel immense pressure and even considered injuring himself to avoid filming it.
Garfield shared that he contemplated quitting as the “demons” started to haunt him. The scene had put so much pressure on him since it mattered so much. He shared with ReelBlend (via Instagram):
And then as the time before filming gets smaller and smaller, you start to try to figure out a way of injuring yourself so you don’t have to do it! Because there’s so much pressure on it, and it matters so much. And all the demons start to come. Which is, ‘Oh no, I’m not able to do this. They’re going to realize that they have to recast and it’s too late because we’ve already shot one movie!’
Garfield had a discussion with Marc Webb and decided to film the close-up shot first. He shared, “I could come in fully loaded, so that we could capture the first, the spontaneous, most emotional response.” Webb also confirmed to Garfield that it was the most important shot in the scene.
The shot also included a technical aspect, which required Garfield to unclip Emma Stone from her harness. He wanted to get that out of the way first. Garfield further added that he wanted the time and space to emotionally prepare for the scene. He shared:
All I want is the time and the space to allow the truth of the moment to happen, and for all of the preparation, that emotional preparation, to be able to serve that scene. I think we did about two takes of that close up. And I think they probably used most of the first take, to be honest.
Elsewhere in the conversation with ReelBlend, he shared how he did the same emotional preparation for the scene in No Way Home. He recalled how some technical delays frustrated him as he was already in the emotional zone to film the scene.
Andrew Garfield Ignored Emma Stone For A Week Before Filming Gwen’s Death
Among the emotional preparation that went into Gwen’s death scene, Andrew Garfield ignored his ex-girlfriend Emma Stone for a whole week. During an interview for a book, VFX supervisor Jerome Chen passed on this detail to CinemaBlend‘s Sean O’Connell.
He shared that Garfield and Stone decided not to see each other for a week, and when they came back, Garfield channeled this brief separation into his emotional scene. Chen shared:
I remember when they were filming that scene, Andrew and Emma deliberately didn’t see each other for a week. Andrew said, ‘I don’t want to see you! When we come into that scene, you have to pretend like you are dead to me.’ It was very quiet. The sets were almost always very quiet. Marc likes to work very focused. So it was very quiet, a totally closed set. And I just remember Andrew coming in and just crying uncontrollably. It was just hours of that. That was grueling, but powerful.
While Stone and Garfield’s chemistry was praised in the film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 received criticism for its screenplay and multiple plotlines. It grossed $709 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo).
The Amazing Spider-Man film series is now available for streaming on Disney+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
