HE will be swinging between tall buildings wearing Lycra this summer, but right now Andrew Garfield is a wreck. Wrapped up tight against the crisp afternoon in a hoodie and pea coat, he sipped camomile tea with honey during a recent interview in Chelsea, punctuated by coughing fits.

Most people with bronchitis would be hauling themselves home to bed. But Mr. Garfield had no intention of calling in sick for that evening’s performance of “Death of a Salesman” in which he plays Biff Loman, the loving, lacerating counterforce to the painful self-delusion of his father, Willy, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

“I couldn’t,” Mr. Garfield said, addressing the possibility of bailing that night. “I’d feel much worse missing a performance than doing it while I’m sick.” Read the full story

Matt McDaniel from Movie Talk had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Marc Webb at WonderCon this year, here is what he asked Marc Webb!

Matt McDaniel: For you, what was the moment when you just knew that Andrew was the right guy to play Peter Parker?

Marc Webb: We tested a lot of really talented, wonderful young actors. And there was a moment when — I mean this sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. We were doing a scene that’s not in the movie, where he was eating a cheeseburger and telling Gwen to like calm down or to — trying to put her at ease, while he is eating food. And the way he ate this food — it was such a dumb task — such a dumb independent activity that you give to an actor to do, and he did it. [Laughs] I just felt like we were in a diner. We were in the back of the soundstage and I felt like there’s something in the way he embodied and committed to that really tiny minutia — I just hadn’t seen before. I can’t explain exactly what I felt like it worked, but that was it.

And then beyond that, I just felt he was a new face. That people didn’t have a lot of baggage [with him]. He sort of checked all the boxes. And there was this humor that he had and that he can do, and there was this emotional weight that he can do, but there’s also a physical capability that he can do. I think the moment was just watching that over and over again. There was something just compelling about his behavior, his physical behaviors that I thought people would really react to. I think that there’s the language of the script, which is words, often in dialogues. And then there’s the behavior that those words have to emerge from. And he’s a master of understanding of what’s going on underneath the surface.

MM: Was that chemistry between Andrew and Emma there from the very beginning?

MW: Yeah, we screen tested them together, and she’s very funny and really quick and snappy. I remember the first time we screen tested them — I don’t think they’d met before, really — and he took a minute for him to get back up to speed with her because she was so funny. And then they really brought out really great parts of the other’s performance. Of course, it was there, and that’s why we cast that dynamic. It was really great to watch it on screen. Read the full story

The last Broadway production of “Death of a Salesman” was only 13 years ago, starring Brian Dennehy in a Tony-winning performance as Willy Loman, yet audience interest in Arthur Miller’s landmark drama appears higher than ever. A new “Salesman” arrived on Broadway last week, starring Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”) as Willy and the movie star Andrew Garfield (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) as his son Biff, and grossed $613,569 for its first six preview performances – more money per performance than the early previews for either the Dennehy production in 1999 or its predecessor, the Dustin Hoffman-led “Salesman” in 1984. Read the full story

GQ Excerpt: Andrew Garfield in NYC, January.
GQ Andrew is proud to share his name with Garfield. Here, he kept it lean and mean in a trimmed-down tux. The slick near-pompadour sealed the deal. View Here

Tickets go on sale Nov. 30 for American Express Cardmembers for the upcoming Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Death of a Salesman.

Directed by eight-time Tony Award winner Mike Nichols, previews will begin Feb. 13, 2012, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The strictly limited 16-week engagement opens March 15.

The cast will be led by Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy Loman, Obie Award winner Linda Emond as Linda Loman and Andrew Garfield (“The Social Network,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”) in his Broadway debut as Biff Loman. Read the full story