Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield “less concerned about commercial success” now
In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, the actor says his priority is more about "artistic freedom".
The high-profile appearances from Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home caused quite a stir when the film debuted at the end of 2021 – with the movie now having gone on to become the sixth highest-grossing film of all time.
But despite those impressive figures, Garfield has explained that he's not as concerned about commercial success as he once was, claiming that his priority is more about "artistic freedom".
In an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com about his recent role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, we asked the actor if he intentionally tried to mix big blockbuster roles with smaller films, and he responded that while there was no deliberate plan as such, his mixture of recent roles "was an accident of [his] kind of longing".
"I just kind of follow my own gut when it comes to what I want to do in any given moment," he explained. "And I work pretty hard at freeing myself into being less concerned about commercial success, because we all know that that is not dependable, there are certain things that are not dependable.
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"And I think it's important for me to free myself of needing to be in a hit all the time," he added. "Because, for me, the priority is more about artistic freedom than it is about anything else, because that's eternal, that's untouchable.
"Like, if I get to keep working, if I get to make a piece of theatre twice a year in a small black box theatre with an audience of 10, then I'm happy, that's enough for me.
"And I think that being the kind of foundation is just healthier for me, rather than imagining, or kind of holding myself to ransom that I have to make a certain amount of money or to have a certain amount of ticket sales – I don't want to live that way. So I think it's more just keeping myself free and happy really."
Garfield recently secured a Best Actor nod in this year's Oscar nominations for his role in Tick, Tick... Boom!.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye is out now in UK cinemas. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
