Andrew Garfield reflects on 'Spider-Man' days: 'It was only beautiful'

Andrew Garfield still gets recognized as Spider-Man, as illustrated in this new Variety cover story.

The 38-year-old actor was attending church in North Carolina with Jessica Chastain for research. Garfield plays disgraced evangelist pastor Jim Bakker — Chastain, his wife (now ex-wife), Tammy Faye, and it came at a cost — in the forthcoming biographical drama "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" due next Friday. Someone at the church knew that he knew Garfield from somewhere. "Were you Spider-Man?" he asked.

Garfield was.

The one-time Oscar nominee portrayed Peter Parker in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012) and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014) before Sony shelved the franchise and later replaced Garfield with Tom Holland, who has worn the iconic Spider-Man suit for six films: "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), "Spider-Man: Far from Home" (2019) and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (Dec. 17, 2021).

Garfield could still be bitter, but he's not.

"It was only beautiful," the Social Network star told Variety. "I got to meet Emma [Stone] and work with her and Sally Field. I had karma with Amy Pascal, who was a mother figure, and we would fight, but ultimately, we loved each other on a deep level. We tried to meet as much in the middle as we could in terms of why I wanted to do this role, and what her needs were as the head of the studio."

For those who don't know, Garfield and Stone went on to date until splitting in 2015.

He also addressed rumors that he will be appearing with Holland and Tobey Maguire in the highly anticipated No Way Home. 

"I understand why people are freaking out about the concept of that because I'm a fan as well. You can't help but imagine scenes and moments of 'Oh, my God, how f-----g cool would it be if they did that?' But it’s important for me to say on the record that this is not something I’m aware I am involved in. But I know I’m not going to be able to say anything that will convince anyone that I don’t know what’s happening. No matter what I say, I’m f----d. It's either going to be really disappointing for people or it’s going to be really exciting."

Anyone clamoring for more Garfield will definitely be able to see him in Lin-Manuel Miranda's film adaptation — Miranda's directorial debut — of "tick, tick...BOOM!" this November.

The Netflix musical charts the life and struggle of the late Jonathan Larson five years before he penned the record-breaking and historic musical "Rent." (Larson died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm caused by Marfan syndrome in 1996 at just 35 years old.) 

Watch the trailer below.