Andrew Garfield Talks ‘We Live in Time’ & Florence Pugh’s ‘Mysterious’ Talent
When Andrew Garfield made his film debut in 2007 with Lion for Lambs, it was a baptism of fire that put him on course for Hollywood stardom. After starring in a movie with Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep, the British actor had to be careful and considered about his next career choices.
Garfield has followed his instinct for almost twenty years and the proof is in the pudding. The Amazing Spider-Man made him a household name, but movies like The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge, and Tick, Tick… Boom! elevated his reputation as one of the most versatile and exciting actors in the industry.
Before taking any role, Garfield always asks himself, “What do I want to put into the world?” This question led him to John Crowley’s decade-spanning romantic drama, We Live in Time.
The upcoming movie, led by Garfield and Florence Pugh, follows chef Almut [Pugh], who finds her life forever changed by a chance encounter with Tobias [Garfield], a recent divorcé. But after falling for each other, building a home, and starting a family, a difficult truth is revealed.
‘We Live in Time’ had its world premiere at TIFF. What was it like to watch it unfold with an audience?
It was lovely. I was very excited to revisit [this movie], particularly with an audience. It’s an audience film. It’s wonderful to watch on your own, but I also think [there is a] communal experience. Everyone was laughing in more surprising places than I could have imagined and crying in different places. It was lovely to feel that energy. It was a very warm, loving, and heartfelt reception.
The movie takes place over a number of years. What order did you film it in and how did that impact your performance?
We hardly ever shoot anything chronologically, so it’s the same as anything. The harder part was that it did span quite a lot of time, but not enough time for you to be so distinctive with what you were doing. It was all quite subtle little shifts.
It was one of the reasons why I wanted to make the film. I thought Nick’s structure and John’s sensibility would create something moving out of the non-linear theme. It becomes more profound when you see the invisible thread between all these moments in these two people’s lives, and the thread is not necessarily linear time; it can be about a feeling, or how one conversation leads to the opposite.
“The world is constantly calling all of us to life, it’s whether we pick it up or not.”
Andrew Garfield
What do you think was the most important thing to portray in Tobias and Almut’s relationship?
For Tobias, I think it’s the journey from being a guy who feels like he’s on the outside of the party of life. He is someone who is on the outside of a pane of glass, looking into life and longing to be a part of life, [but] terrified to be a part of life, and he doesn’t know why.
With this chance encounter, with this alive, vibrant, spontaneous burst of a person that Almut is, he gets an opportunity to be called into life. Whether he is going to accept that call is up to him. Is he going to let himself go and surrender and try with courage and with all the potential rejection and loss that comes with such a move? And he does.
The most important thing for me to portray in the journey was his transformation into a person that can, in fact, live a full life. The world is constantly calling all of us to life, it’s whether we pick it up or not.
The movie is a heavy world to immerse yourself in as an actor. How do you shake roles like this off?
It wasn’t really about shaking it off — it just felt like it was a part of my life. I felt like I was expressing where I was at, within the film, in a very organic way; I continued to explore the same themes afterwards.
Letting go of the characters was sad because [the film] was a beautiful space where Florence and I got to explore these themes in an active, conscious, and healing way. Then, when that ends, I don’t have the same vehicle to pour all these feelings through, or synthesize them into art, or to synthesize them into healing. [It gave me] a conscious understanding of my own life, grief, and longings.
This was another incredible performance by Florence Pugh. What makes her such a unique talent?
It’s mysterious. I don’t think you can really put a finger on it. She just has the energy, the soul, and the spirit that wants to express itself in this particular way. She is just meant to be doing what she is doing. It is a gift that she has, and it becomes a gift for all of us watching — me included.
Before making this film with her, I only knew her from her work. I thought she was a very alive talent, and I wondered if our styles of play would work well together. It’s hard to know. I think it’s beyond names; when you have someone and their gift like that, they are exactly where they are meant to be. It’s a mixture of charisma, depth, professionalism, and hard work. She’s a very alive person, and she brings that to her work.
“For [We Live in Time], the themes and the heart of this are exactly where I’m at, and I want to express this right now.”
Andrew Garfield
You are at the stage in your career where you can be selective with roles. What do you look for when choosing your next role and what excites you as an actor?
The problem I had was that I got to that place a little too early. The first movie I made, [Lions for Lambs], had Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep. Fucking hell, where do I go from there? It’s been 20 years of having that luck and choice.
At certain moments in my life, it has made me very trepidatious about making the right or wrong choices. There might have been a couple of things that I wished I had done which I didn’t do, but 98% of the time, my instinct is right.
Has this approach changed throughout your career?
As I get older and realize that the amount of time I have is lessening — and the amount of energy I have is lessening — it becomes even more important to be very specific, and accurate, with where that energy and time is put.
It can be for a multitude of different reasons. For [We Live in Time], the themes and the heart of this are exactly where I’m at, and I want to express this right now. I want to be a part of making this film — something that deals with loss, grief, love, and the courage to dive into our lives and have our lives be affirming. And then, [in] another instance, it could be something completely different.
It’s very instinctual. It’s about: ‘What do I want to put into the world?’ What will I be proud of standing next to, and standing within, and saying, ‘Here’s something for people to feast on.’
We Live In Time will be released in theatres across Canada on October 11th.
