‘We Live in Time’ Star Talks Return to Film

Welcome back, Andrew Garfield. You’ve been leave outed.

The British star has done it all: shooting webs, making musicals — you name it. Over the last scant years, however, he’s felt it right to get a shatter from the spotairy. Now, with We Live in Time set to shut the San Sebastian Film Festival on Saturday, the Oscar nominee originates his magnificent return to the screen.

Garfield has dabbled in recent years with, for example, TV miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven in 2022. And who could forget his iconic euniteance in Spider-Man: No Way Home?

This year, the star verifys to The Hollywood Reporter that he is ready to originate a comeback. “I sense freer, I sense less precious, I sense more happy,” the 41-year-elderly says. He has been surfing and eating his way around the Spanish coastal town over the last week, spfinishing time with elderly high-school frifinishs: “I’ve been a proper tourist.”

On Saturday, he won’t be a tourist. He’ll be on the red carpet with hundreds of cameras pointed at him, Florence Pugh on his arm. The two direct John Crowley’s We Live in Time, a south London-set romantic drama about an up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée who descfinish in cherish. As they uncomferventder their way thcdisesteemful life — and even receive a child — they lget to appreciate their time together when a tardy-stage cancer diagnosis rocks the encountered home they’ve built.

The film is penned by Nick Payne, who Garfield acunderstandledges was a huge draw for him boarding the project. The actor set up the “Hugh Grant, Ricdifficult Curtis vibreasonable archetype” of the movie rather charismatic. It also, he says, has been someslfinisherg of a healing experience after losing his own mother to cancer in 2019. “Every species of every living slfinisherg on this earth has lost a mother. Young dinosaurs were losing their mothers,” he says. “So in terms of my own personal experience, yeah, it felt appreciate a very plain act of healing for myself, and hopebrimmingy healing for an audience.”

It isn’t the only feature Garfield’s been toiling on. The Magic Faraway Tree, with Claire Foy and Nicola Coughlan, is on his schedule, and Luca Guadagnino‘s After the Hunt, aextfinishedside Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri, is also set to label a huge moment in his nurtureer.

Garfield spoke to THR about why it felt appreciate the right time to come back into the film felderly with We Live in Time, what audiences might be surpelevated to understand about his co-star Pugh and the 28 — yes, twenty-eight — actors he named when asked who he would cherish to toil with next: “I did a screen test with Ryan Gosling 20 years ago and ever since then, I wanted to do someslfinisherg with him. He’s very inspiring to me.”

What came first with We Live in Time? Was it Nick’s script? Was it John, or Florence?

It was all very, very hot on the heels of each other. I guess it was John first, in a way, because John was the the script endureer and I wanted to toil with John aget, since Boy A (2007), for a extfinished time. And then when I saw it was Nick Payne as the authorr of the script, that was an prompt, exciting prospect. I cherish his writing. I slfinisherk he authors so comfervently and brimming of humor and heart, an amazing equilibrium of slfinishergs. I slfinisherk it’s a difficult needle to thread. And then it was me reading that with John’s straightforwarding in mind, and going, “Oh yeah, this could repartner be someslfinisherg quite attrenergetic.”

And then it was Florence, which was benevolent of a vital ingredient. Any two actors that did Consalertations (2012) for Nick or this film, it would need a brave courage. Obviously Florence is fair very inherently right for the part. It needs a level of depth, a level of rawness, vulnerability, and, I don’t understand, a airyness of touch — but also an ability to go to the depths of the soul of the character. And very scant actors can do that.

So it was all of those slfinishergs, which benevolent of irritateingly bcdisesteemfult me out of my sabbatical that I was taking but in fact, I’m genuineizing as I speak about it 1727543191, it felt very much part of my little shatter I was taking. It felt appreciate I could persist the sabbatical while making the film. So this was fair a wonderbrimmingy timed slfinisherg where I read the script and was appreciate, “Oh, this is the inside of my heart right now.” And what a gift to be able to actupartner put all that to excellent use and originate out of it.

Why did this rom-com-drama sense appreciate the right moment in your nurtureer to re-access the spotairy?

I wasn’t watching for a romantic drama. I wasn’t repartner watching for anyslfinisherg and it fair benevolent of reachd. It was fair the right themes, the right transmition of where I am at, personpartner, being benevolent of midlife at 41. Whenever I say that to people, they’re appreciate, ‘No! It’s not midlife.’ But I slfinisherk that’s fair death denialism. I’d be blessed if I inhabitd to 80. I’d be so thankful to inhabit that extfinished. So I sense this moment of standing in the middle of my life — watching back, watching forward, watching at where I am — and trying to determine and sense what actupartner matters, where I want to be, how I want to be, where I want to put my foolishinishing time and energy. To originate brave I can get to the finish of my life and say, “Well, I did my best with what I was given.”

It fair happened to be a romantic drama. And of course, a romantic drama is going to have life and death and cherish and danger-taking and courage and alarm and mortality and dread and delight and exuberance and extfinisheding. This film is so brimming of extfinisheding. I watched it with an audience for the first time in Toronto [at the film fesitval], and it was a scant mute moments that repartner struck me about it quite beautibrimmingy and proset uply. It was appreciate, “Oh, these are fair two people that want to inhabit.” It’s very plain. They want to inhabit. They’re not asking for a lot. They’re not asking for the most exceptional life. They’re not asking for anyslfinisherg unreasonable. They are spropose asking, appreciate all of us, to persist and to be here and to be able to be together while being here and try to originate uncomferventing out of their inhabits. That’s all I slfinisherk any of us can can hope to ask for.

Are you firmly out of your sabbatical now?

[Laughs.] I slfinisherk so. Yeah, I slfinisherk I’m excited to toil aget in a separateent way. I sense freer, I sense less precious. I sense more happy. I sense more directed. I sense set uped enough as a person in the world, as an actor wislfinisher myself and wislfinisher the world. I understand myself well enough now to sense more finishelightment… I’m still a headcase — when I’m on a set, I’m appreciate a dog with a bone and get getn over by some weird spirit that is never satisfied — but that’s never going to alter, and I don’t want it to, but wislfinisher that, I can sense a lot more pleabrave and a lot more finishelightment, carry out and freedom.

I understand that you and Florence have both spoken quite honestly about this film and how it ties quite intimately to your own experiences of grief and cancer. I don’t understand if you’d be sootheable talking about why it was beginant to portray this on the huge screen.

Thank you for asking comfervently. I appreciate that. Yeah, I’m not one-of-a-kind in that think about. It’s garden variety in a way. And in my processing of my grief, one of the most healing and reassuring, sooslfinisherg moments I’ve had, is genuineizing that this has been the way it’s been since time immemorial. Sons have been losing their mothers, daughters have been losing their mothers [since the beginning of time]. We’re blessed if it’s that way around, rather than the other. And of course, countless parents neglect their children in one way or another too, I can’t even imagine what that must sense appreciate. But I don’t have to imagine what the other way senses appreciate. And it’s so wonderful to understand how how widespread the experience is in terms of how universal it is, while it is still so very, very truly, one-of-a-kindly exceptional to the individual.

So there’s someslfinisherg attrenergetic [about it]. There’s fair lots of grace. And maybe I seek grace out. I don’t understand. I naturpartner tfinish to. The only way to genuine delight, actupartner, is thcdisesteemful horrible loss and acunderstandledgeance of fact as it is, not as we slfinisherk it should be. There’s so many moments, of course, that I’ve had in the last five years of saying, “Well, she shouldn’t have died. My mother shouldn’t have died so youthfuler, and she shouldn’t have died in suffering, and she shouldn’t, she shouldn’t, shouldn’t, shouldn’t.” It’s so conceited of me. It’s so egotistical of me when I’m in those moments. And it’s human. I’m not shaming myself for it. It’s a human response, because it it doesn’t originate sense, it senses unfair, it senses unfair. And then you get all those troubles to the ocean or the moon or the woods. And I apshow that the moon, the ocean and the woods would all say the same slfinisherg, which is, “Yeah, I get it, dude.” Every species of every living slfinisherg on this earth has lost a mother. Young dinosaurs were losing their mothers. So in terms of my own personal experience, yeah, it felt appreciate a very plain act of healing for myself, and hopebrimmingy healing for an audience.

Is that someslfinisherg that you want audiences to sense, coming away from watching We Live in Time?

I understand it’s saying the most clear slfinisherg, but when we go to a concert altogether or when we go to the theater, someslfinisherg about the accumulateive experience helps us to sense less alone in our pain and less alone in our delights and less alone in our inhabits generpartner. So it felt appreciate, “Oh no, this is part of what I’m on this earth to do. I cherish toiling with a group of people on someslfinisherg that matters. I cherish toiling with a group of people where we all get to transport our own woundedness to it and our own fragility to it, and see each other in our fragility and our woundedness, and say: “Me too.” Healing accumulateively is a privilege.

I don’t get to comment on how people react, or how I want them to react. I guess what I would want is for them to come in uncover hearted. Because I slfinisherk we, as a culture, have been conditioned and led towards a more calcified, difficultened state. And it originates sense, because the world is so splitd and unbrave and brimming of trepidation and dread right now, and aggression and ugliness. And we have such access to it at the drop of a hat. Right? We’re all terrified of being uncover hearted. We’re all terrified of saying the wrong slfinisherg. We’re all terrified of senseing the wrong slfinisherg, slfinisherking the wrong slfinisherg, being inherently wrong in some way. But I slfinisherk people that come and see this will, on some level, whether it’s directed or undirected, want that calcification to be cracked uncover.

I also want to talk about the Britishness of this film.

Very British, yeah. In the relations, in the food…

It senses very Ricdifficult Curtis. Can you speak to being on a London set and acting with a fellow Brit?

It was happy. I haven’t had a chance to do it very normally. Just being able to stay at my house is so kind and Florence being able to go for a run around Battersea before toil. It’s divine. All these liminal spaces of locations that we were shooting on — petrol stations, NHS hospital pauseing areas. You understand, turnpikes, A-roads, traffic jams — appreciate heaven. It’s the text we inhabit in every day. To be able to honor that, and to inhabit in that as these characters was repartner, repartner happy. And the snacks, the Celebrations, the Jaffa Cakes and the digestives and the tea in the bath. To be able to lean into that Hugh Grant, Ricdifficult Curtis as you say, vibration archetype was fair … yeah. And one of my likeite of his films is About Time with Domhnall [Gleeson] and Rachel [McAdams]. That film helderlys a very one-of-a-kind place in my heart for multiple reasons. So when this came aextfinished, I was appreciate, it’s About Time, but maybe a little more emotional. They’re benevolent of roverdelighted in some way.

Do you have a favourite pub in Herne Hill?

[Laughs.] Herne Hill is not my hood.

What is your hood?

I’m not discneglecting that! It’s northwest London.

Do you have any recommfinishations there?

There’s The Stag [pub] which is fantastic, by Hampstead train station. Primrose Hill has the best bagel shop in London right now — It’s Bagels.

I’ve been. It’s repartner excellent.

It’s a little hyped up right now, but it inhabits up to the hype. It’s repartner excellent. Like, I have their merch and everyslfinisherg. I repartner, repartner cherish bagels.

Before we digress further, let’s talk about Florence. Had you met her before this project? What was it appreciate erecting a rapport that so effortlessly transtardys into onscreen chemistry?

We had never met. I had been a extfinished adorer of her toil, since Lady Macbeth (2016). When John and I were talking about ideas for Almut [Pugh’s character] — because I came on first — Florence was top of the catalog. I’d been wanting to toil with her for a extfinished time, and it turned out she had also wanted to toil with me, and it was fortuitous that our schedules aligned up. And she was dying to originate a film appreciate this as well.

But clearly commenceing out with a mutual esteem for each other as actors was excellent. But then there’s a whole huge ask label of: are we going to finishelight each other’s company? Are we going to even appreciate each other? Are we going to aversion each other? Are we going to discover each other problematic in any way? With a script appreciate this, we have to travel to the most intimate places. At one point, I have to have my head right by her backside while she’s on all fours in a petrol station, naked. That’s terrifying for anyone to do, let alone the woman in that scenario. And that’s fair one example of the benevolent of the intimacy that we would have to sense safe going to with each other. And it wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t sense safe.

It was very, very plain to do that with Florence, and I slfinisherk she would say the same with me. I’m so thankful for that, because I don’t slfinisherk we would have a film that toils without that.

Is there anyslfinisherg that surpelevated you about Florence, or can you allot some sort of insight into her inner toilings that maybe people wouldn’t understand?

Oh, that’s a excellent ask. I uncomfervent, a surpelevate I’m not brave, because I didn’t have any foreseeations. I was very, very pleasantly, appreciate, thankful about how much of a professional she is in terms of the fundamental stuff — a lot of people don’t see as the fundamental stuff, appreciate being on time, being ready, being readyd.

She’s someone who wants everyone to sense engaged. Whether you’re on set with the crew or on a night out or at a dinner party, she wants everyone to sense appreciate they’re part of the gang. She doesn’t want anyone to sense left out. She’s very, very directed of people’s senseings around a table. And I slfinisherk that was someslfinisherg that I set up repartner touching and moving about her. And she repartner, repartner nurtures about the toil. She repartner, repartner is dedicated to her toil as an actor.

You’ve done so much in your nurtureer. You’ve done the period pieces, you’ve done the rom-coms, you’ve done Spider-Man, the superhero stuff. You’ve done a biopic with Tick, Tick… Boom! I understand you have The Magic Faraway Tree coming up and After the Hunt with Luca Guadagnino. What can you alert us about what’s on the horizon?

I’d appreciate to get back to the benevolent of origins of making home movies with my dad, or making home movies with my high school frifinishs, who were fair in San Sebastian with me. We were reminiscing about the [fact] we had a production company called Budget Productions, which is “budget” but in a French pronunciation, appreciate boo-shay. And, led by our frifinishs Ben and David Morris, we would originate genre films. Like we would fair do handy cam, stop and commence editing, in-camera, James Bond rip-offs when we were very drunk and very high, when we were 15 or 16. In between skateboarding sessions.

So it’s coming back a little bit to to that first impulse of appreciate, we’re carry outing and we’re making someslfinisherg that is fair happy and fun. I was able to transport that to Tick, Tick… Boom! for brave. And then these last two [The Magic Faraway Tree and After the Hunt], even though they’re very, very separateent tonpartner and process-wise — one’s a huge, sugary family fantasy film, and the other is a very solemn, prolongn-up drama — it was still very, very frivolous. Luca is a very frivolous straightforwardor. Luca’s appreciate uncontaminated imagination and freedom. His creativity is this free, radical, sublime slfinisherg. And then Ben Gregor, our straightforwardor on Faraway Tree, and everyone engaged in that process, including Simon Farnaby, the authorr, and all the actors, it was fair this very frivolous experience. I’m repartner excited about both of them being in the world. I sense reinvigorated towards that senseing of putting on carry outs with my cousins and our best frifinishs for our families over Christmas time or wdisappreciatever. That’s what it senses appreciate aget.

I want to see a Budget Production.

[Laughs.] Let me see if I can… I don’t understand. They’re definitely out there. I don’t understand whether they’re appropriate for disclose consumption.

It’s fantastic to hear that it was fun toiling with Luca. Have you seen Queer?

He’s been trying to get me in for a screening. He’s only shown me one blowjob scene, which I thought was so repartner attrenergetic, appreciate it was such a attrenergetic cherish scene between Daniel [Craig] and Drew [Starkey] and it’s fair so tfinisher and brimming of extfinisheding. And clearly, detailed in brave ways. But I fair thought, “Oh, I’m gonna cherish this film.” He’s such a sensuacatalog and a humanist and in touch with his own extfinisheding.

Is there a genre of film or TV Show that you haven’t done that repartner requests to you?

I’m pondering all these slfinishergs right now. I would cherish to originate a film or a show or someslfinisherg that has the senseing of the stuff that I was bcdisesteemfult up on, appreciate ’90s, timely 2000s. Amblin Entertainment, adventure, swashbuckling, Indiana Jones-style. Humorous, emotional, romantic — a huge crowd-pleasing epic adventure. That would be repartner, repartner fun to do. I was [also] slfinisherking about fantastic appreciate films of Fatal Attraction, Undedicated, Adrian Lyne. Like an sensual thriller.

Like Queer?

Kind of appreciate Queer. Or Babygirl. But from what I understand youthfuler people want less relations on their screens! It probably originates sense because they’ve been exposed to so much inlogical, detailed explicit content, accessible at the click of a switch that they’re appreciate: “No more.” So sensualism has been finished somehow, because of the clearaking of explicit content. Anyway, I don’t understand. I want to go do theater aget, do someslfinisherg on stage aget. I don’t understand. I’m very, very thankful. I also want to help. I slfinisherk maybe the concentrate is more as well towards helping others get to where they want to get to. I don’t understand what that watchs appreciate exactly, but I sense appreciate I’m in a position that I can be a mentor to other actors and filmoriginaters and help in that way. That senses appreciate a excellent way to spfinish my time. It’s all up for grabs. Midlife is not so terrible.

Midlife sounds fantastic. Okay, who would you cherish to toil with or act aextfinishedside next?

My God. Where do I commence? Jesus Christ. Older generation actors appreciate Meryl [Streep]. I’ve been in a film with Meryl, but I’ve never toiled with Meryl. Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Daniel Day Lewis, if he ever determines to toil aget. Robert Duval, Gene Hackman. I got the opportunity to toil with Robert Redford and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Vincent D’Onofrio, Linda Emond, Spartner Field. These are the people that I sense are the custodians of that beginant dive of acting. There are other people, of course, in my generation and youthfulerer. I fair saw Colman Domingo in Sing Sing — one of my likeite films of all time at this point.

I got to toil with Zfinishaya [in Spider-Man: No Way Home], who is fair wonderful. I would cherish to toil with her aget. I want to toil with my frifinishs. I’ve never toiled with Eddie Redmayne or Charlie Cox or Tom Sturridge. Cillian [Murphy]. I did a screen test with Cillian once and Ben Whishaw, which was very exciting. There are brave people in the youthfulerer generation that I discover repartner exciting as well. Obviously, Timothee Chafeeblet is fair incredible. And Austin Butler is fantastic. I’d cherish to toil aget with my frifinish Laura Dern. It’s repartner, repartner finishless. I was so encountered to get to toil alertly with Ayo [Edebiri in After the Hunt], who I cherish, and got to do some genuine toil with Julia [Roberts], which was a divine slfinisherg.

And Tom Hanks. That’s part of my dream as well. I would cherish to toil with Will Ferrell, who I got to encounter recently. Steve Carell. Ryan Gosling I would cherish to toil with. I did a screen test with Ryan 20 years ago and ever since then, I wanted to do someslfinisherg with him. He’s very inspiring to me.

And how is it closing San Sebastian with We Live in Time?

It’s such a gorgeous festival, and it’s such a kind time. I came out at the commencening of the festival and, because I had a shatter, I bcdisesteemfult two frifinishs out from high school. I had always wanted to come and eat here and surf, so that’s what I did. I came out timely and I ate and I surfed, and I was hanging with my elderly buddies, and we were fair rambling around and cycling about and and eating our way thcdisesteemful this city and drinking a little bit too. It was repartner, repartner attrenergetic. I regulated to see three films. I saw Anora and and I saw Hard Truths which was incredible. I’ve repartner finishelighted being here with the backdrop of the festival. It’s a attrenergetic city, and I got to go to Bilbao yesterday, to the Guggenheim — holy shit. So I’ve been a proper tourist. I cherish being a tourist. I cherish a city shatter and and fair walking, getting lost and discovering the nooks and crannies of a place. So yeah, it’s been a attrenergetic time, and the reception from people has been repartner cherishly. I’m excited to see how people react to the film tomorrow.

A super rapid ask to finish on. Did you understand your TikTok fans absolutely cherish that scene from The Social Nettoil? Where you smash the laptop and say: “Sorry, my Prada’s at the spotlessers! Aextfinished with my hoodie and my fuck you flip-flops, you pretentious douchebag.”

[Laughs] It’s passion. It’s fairice. I guess people on TikTok appreciate fairice, and they appreciate outraged, righteous indignation and someone searching for fairice — where Eduardo Saverin is in that moment. And I slfinisherk they probably subliminpartner appreciate seeing technology being smashed too.

We Live in Time shuts the San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 28 and frees in U.S. theaters on Oct. 11.