Andrew Garfield, best known for his role in the Spider-Man movies, turns 43 today. But how much do you know about this beloved actor?
Andrew Garfield has become a much-loved movie and TV actor over the past 20 years. Whether it is for his compelling performances in movies such as Spider-Man, or hilarious interviews on chat shows, Andrew has developed a strong fanbase over the years.
He is probably still best known for playing Spider-Man in two movies in the noughties, before reprising the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he acted alongside the two other recent on-screen Spideys, Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland.
However, he has built un an enviable CV alongside that, from acting in big-budget blockbusters to smaller, independent movies. He has also been successful on the stage, including being nominated for Tony Award for his for as Biff in a Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman.
But, as he turns 43, how much do you know about Andrew Garfield? Here are some facts you might not know about him.
He has dual US-UK citizenship
Andrew has dual British and US citizenship, which reflects his background and upbringing. His father is American, while his late mother was British. In addition, Andrew was born in Los Angeles, but his family moved to Epsom in southeast England when he was just three.
He was brought up and schooled in England, and made his acting breakthrough in England, before later moving back to the US to pursue his movie career.
A friend convinced him to take theatre studies A-level
Andrew had an interest in acting from a young age, taking acting lessons by age 9 and appearing in youth theatre productions, including Bugsy Malone, and being a member of a youth theatre workshop.
In school, when looking at his post-16 education options, Andrew had intended to study business, until a friend intervened. His friend wanted to take theatre studies, but the course was one pupil short of the number needed to run the course, so they convinced Andrew to join the class. Andrew never looked back.
Following this, Andrew trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama at the University of London.
He worked for a famous coffee chain
While training, and before he started to pick up acting work, Andrew had a job working in coffee chain Starbucks. He worked in three different branches in Golders Green and Hendon in London. But once the acting took off, he left the world of beverages behind.
His initial breakthrough was in theatre
Once he had graduated from university, Andrews first acting roles were mostly on stage. He was in Kes in Manchester and won a Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Newcomer for his performance in that. Two years later, he won the Outstanding Newcomer award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
In-between that, Andrew made his TV debut in a teen drama called Sugar Rush.
He has a type of spider named after him
Andrew is arguably best known for his portrayal of Spider-Man in two movies for Sony. His version of the webcrawler brought sensitivity to the role and he has a devoted fandom among Spidey fans.
Indeed, two arachnologists (people who study spiders) Yuri M Marusik and Alireza Zamani have marked Andrew’s performance in the role by naming a newly-discovered species of crevice weaver spider after him called Pritha gardfieldi.
He went on a silent retreat to prepare for a role
Andrew does like to go method for his roles. For his role as a 17th-century Jesuit priest Sebastiao Rodrigues in Martin Scorsese’s 2016 movie Silence, Andrew spent a year with a priest training in the ways of Jesuit priests, even going on a silent retreat in Wales. He also lost 40lbs to achieve the necessary physicality for the role.
However, while Andrew’s performance in silence was praised, the movie bombed at the box office.
