One of the most versatile stars in Hollywood, Andrew Garfield, has left an indelible mark on the screens thanks to his on-screen charisma and ever-confident persona. Starting off as a stage actor, he has gone on to becoming a two-time Oscar nominee along with making himself a household name following his role in The Amazing Spider-Man movies.
Regardless of such highs, the actor still remains vocal about being as fallible as a human as any other, especially when it comes to reeling under a wave of disappointment and lows.
About half a decade ago, Garfield moved back to the stage world as he starred in the National Theatre’s production, Angels in America. A particular event during the happenings of it made him drown in low confidence. The resulting thought process had him gripped under a form of depression and it was then when, out of sheer luck, he tuned into a famed Netflix production that starkly resembled the series of events in his life and eventually left him feeling better.
The Netflix show that helped Andrew Garfield shed his blues
Starring in the lead role of Prior Walter, Andrew Garfield gave his best for Angels in America, which ran for close to three months in 2018. Yet, everything was not smooth for him and despite being an A-list actor, he did face a disappointing setback, at least personally. In talks with BBC Radio 1 back in 2022, the Hacksaw Ridge actor revealed that he had a particularly challenging night on stage that left him questioning his acting abilities.
In turn, he turned to this then-comfort show of Netflix’s adult animation, BoJack Horseman. Featuring a unique blend of comedy, drama, and satire, the show went through the ups and downs of Hollywood and in one episode even parodied Garfield himself, which he was willfully aware of.
I know that I’m parodied in that show, with my big hair and my kind of nervous green sweater.
Yet, that night, coincidentally, the episode he had tuned into featured a character audition for a movie and almost got the part but lost out in the last moment due to the in-universe Andrew Garfield’s availability. The irony of events resounded deeply with the actor, who then summed up:
BoJack is the one that is left totally despondent, so there was this amazing moment of complete existential meta, like suddenly I was BoJack but also I was me and I was the one getting in my way.
All of it finally left him feeling “grateful” for being able to make movies that filled theaters and filled him up with self-confidence again.
The twist of fate that led Andrew Garfield lose out on Spider-Man
Often held as the best debut Spider-Man movie, Andrew Garfield set a pretty high benchmark for himself with The Amazing Spider-Man. Notwithstanding a rather mixed second outing, he still stands as one of the best live-action versions of the character and commands a strong fan base. Moreover, long before Tom Holland, he was at the forefront of having a complete trilogy until brutal fate had him out of the role.
Although the primary reason for Sony separating ways with the actor came across as box-office disappointment, leaked emails reportedly revealed that his failure to attend a promotional event in Brazil where the release date for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 had to be announced was the real reason for his abrupt end of stint in the role. Garfield bowed out of his appearance at the last minute citing medical illness, yet it did not sit well with the executives and hence the split.
BoJack Horseman is available to stream on Netflix.
