Andrew Garfield Denies Being Himself When Fans Approach Him In Public
Andrew Garfield recently admitted that he often pretends to not be himself when a fan approaches him in public, saying he just looks like the actor.
In a recent interview, Andrew Garfield admitted that he often pretends to not be himself when a fan approaches him in public. It isn't hard to imagine that Garfield gets stopped quite a bit by fans. Garfield has been in the public eye consistently since he starred alongside Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network in 2011. Shortly after, he was cast as the titular character in Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man series, securing his place in Hollywood stardom.
Garfield's prominence has spiked in 2021. The actor played a starring role in Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut tick tick...BOOM to much critical acclaim. Only a month later, he reprised his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the MCU's massively successful Spider-Man: No Way Home. With major hits like these, it's likely the number of times Garfield gets stopped on the street by fans has only increased in recent months.
In a recent video posted by Vanity Fair, Garfield reunited with his Social Network co-star Dakota Johnson to discuss the film, and how things have changed in the eleven years since its release. When the conversation turned to how the pair interact with fans, Garfield admitted that he often lies when asked if he is Andrew Garfield. He went on to state that he will sometimes answer truthfully to the question, but then will go on to state "I'm going to disappoint you now." Garfield also noted that if someone is open to him "being a real person" they can have a real conversation, but that is not always the case. See Garfield's full quote below:
"Someone will say, 'hey, are you the guy from the thing?' I'm like, 'no, I look like him.' And then we can have an actual conversation. But then sometimes I'm very just like, 'yeah, I am, and I'm going to disappoint you now.' You know what I mean?"
Garfield also mentioned that he has never felt guilty for lying to someone about his identity. According to Garfield, he can tell by the energy with which someone approaches him if he is "the Andrew Garfield that they're looking for" or if they are actually willing to meet him as a real person. Garfield stated that he feels if a fan is asking after a version of him that they've put on a pedestal, he's not truly lying to them about his identity as he's just a regular person.
It's easy to understand where Garfield is coming from. For an actor who has been in as many successful productions as Garfield has, it is likely that many fans out there have their own idea of who Garfield is that don't line up with the man himself. It's not hard to imagine die hard fans expecting to finally meet Peter Parker, only to realize that Garfield truly is just an actor playing a role. It could be argued, however, that this is their loss, as Garfield's down-to-earth nature would likely make him a delightful person to anyone who's willing to speak to the real him.
Source: Vanity Fair (via YouTube)