abnervaught: 'Spider-Man' Star Feeling Pressure Of Playing Iconic Character

Saturday, February 11, 2012

'Spider-Man' Star Feeling Pressure Of Playing Iconic Character

'It's a huge responsibility for me to be in that suit and to take on the mantle from a fantastic actor,' Andrew Garfield tell MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Andrew Garfield in "The Amazing Spider-Man"
Photo: Sony Pictures

The upcoming reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man" is a prime example of the pressure filmmakers and studios are under to deliver the best adaptation possible. Anyone who's familiar with comic book movies and the corresponding hoopla that surrounds them is more than accustomed to the demands of their fervent fan communities. If that movie is good, it wins support for life. If it's bad, fans have various ways of expressing their disappointment and are not afraid to do so.

Perhaps no one is feeling that pressure at the moment more than the movie's star himself, Andrew Garfield.

When MTV News caught up with Garfield recently before a screening event for the film, we asked him if his level of stress and anxiety is higher now that the release date is approaching or back when he was first cast in the role.

"It's always the same. It's always a [level] 10 inside. It's just a question of whether you acknowledge it or try to ignore it or try to suppress it, or try to pretend like it's not there or act like you don't care," he said. "I'm at a 10 constantly."

Garfield went on to emphasize how much being a true fan informed his performance, in both positive and negative ways.

"It's a huge responsibility for me to be in that suit and to take on the mantle from a fantastic actor previously and from fantastic artists and writers and ultimately Stan Lee. That's where it came from," he said. "I feel lucky and unlucky that I'm a fan first. That's what I am, I'm a Spider-Man fan at my core. I feel lucky in the sense that I feel like I know Peter Parker, because I grew up with him. I feel unlucky in the sense of how disappointed I am that I'm playing him.

"I don't' mean that in a self-deprecating [way]," he added. "No actor could ever live up to the character for me, and that's weird to say because I'm the actor playing this particular incarnation, I can't wait for another actor to take it on so I can judge."

Check out everything we've got on "The Amazing Spider-Man."

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