Andrew Garfield Is Countering the ‘Epidemic of Meaningless’ By Getting Into His Feels

Andrew Garfield is on a mission. After exploding onto the scene in “The Social Network,” his career took off, landing the role of Peter Parker in “The Amazing Spider-Man” film series and earning Academy Award nominations for his performances in “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Tick, Tick… Boom!” Now, at 41, Garfield can stand to be more choosy about projects he takes on and, in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, explained that the work that really draws his interest nowadays is material that allows him to tap into and display more of his emotional sensitivity.

“I want to offer something true and vulnerable. Because God, I don’t want to get highfalutin in any way, but we’re in trouble right now in our culture,” Garfield said. “There’s a kind of epidemic of meaninglessness permeating the culture in a way that is now undeniable. I don’t want to add to the din of numbness and a kind of toeing the capitalist line.”

In his latest film, John Crowley’s “We Live in Time,” Garfield plays a recently divorced man given a second chance at love after being hit by a car driven by a chef played by Florence Pugh. Using a non-linear narrative, the film explores various moments in their relationship, including watching Pugh’s character experience ovarian cancer. In experiencing this delicate and tragic storyline, Garfield hopes people embrace the sadness on display rather than shy away from it.

“I feel like one of the places I feel a sense of purpose — and what I’m meant to bring to my male friends, actually — is a safety to feel the things we were told not to feel,” said Garfield.

As much purpose as Garfield has in investigating emotion and offering it to a wide audience, his life as a performer has changed as he’s gotten older and especially after losing his mother to pancreatic cancer in 2019.

“A lot of my ambition died when my mother died,” he said to the LA Times. “I feel like I’m pretty satisfied with a certain amount of the work I’ve made, and I don’t know where my calling is right now — where I’m supposed to be serving.”

He added later, “I don’t have the energy to try and dance for Grandma anymore. There’s a relief that comes from that exhaustion. Realizing life is not forever, so what do I want to spend my time doing?”

Garfield can next be seen in Luca Guadignino’s “After the Hunt,” co-starring Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri, as well as an adaptation of the Enid Blyton novel “The Magic Faraway Tree” alongside Claire Foy.

“We Live in Time” from StudioCanal is now playing in theaters.