Exclusive new poster for ' The Amazing Spider-Man ' (Photo: Columbia Pictures)"The Amazing Spider-Man"
will be swinging back into movie theaters this
summer with a new director at the helm — the
appropriately named Mark Webb ("(500) Days of Summer") — and a new leading man behind the
mask. But how did Andrew Garfield , a 28-year-old acclaimed dramatic actor from England best known
for "The Social Network," score the role of a teenager
from Queens who does whatever a spider can? I had the opportunity to speak to Mark Webb at
WonderCon in Anaheim, CA where he presented fans
with a look at unfinished footage from his Marvel
Comics' reboot. He revealed the odd, attention-
grabbing behavior from Garfield's audition that helped
secure him the title role. Plus, Webb discussed the immediate chemistry between Garfield and Emma Stone , who plays his love interest Gwen Stacy, and he explained why this new movie takes the character of
Peter Parker back to high school. [Photos: See the exclusive new poster for 'The Amazing Spider-Man' ] Matt McDaniel : For you, what was the moment when you just knew that Andrew was the right guy
to play Peter Parker? Mark 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].
And there was this — 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. MM : The film takes Peter Parker back to high school. Why was that important, what is about the high
school setting that's important for the character? MW : There's an adolescent quality to a lot of the "Spider-Man" [comics] that I liked, that is really
important in terms of the DNA of the character. He's
like an imperfect guy. You know what I'm mean? He
is a kid, and he's always kind of making mistakes,
and he is not so sure about himself all the time. I felt
like the authentic place to start that was in high school. And I think there's something about the way
you feel about the world at that age that makes
things much more raw, and I thought that was really
fun to explore more cinematically. Director Mark Webb (Photo: Getty Images) MM : What reactions have you gotten from the fans to the trailers
and other footage you've released that have
surprised you? MW : I think initially there was a little bit of hesitation amongst the community because they didn't know
what we were doing. And when the materials —
when we have gone out and showed people the
materials, people have really started to warm up to
us, and I think that there's been — recently,
especially since the last trailer — there's been this real groundswell of support. And when they see
Andrew and Emma, there's something that feels new
and really special about it that's fun. I can't say it's totally surprising because when we
were shooting it, you could feel that we're doing
something that felt real and different and new and it
had its own identity and I think people are coming
around to that. MM : What's the trickiest element of Spider-Man's world from the comics to capture on screen? MW : To create something that's funny and whimsical, but also has real emotional stakes. That's the real
tricky part is to make it all feel grounded even though
he is doing something, even though he's swinging
through the streets and he can do things that no other
human can do. But still give him a hard time when
he's relating to his aunt or his girlfriend, and all those dumb little things that we all have to deal with when
you don't have that mask on. I think reconciling those
two universes was tricky, but I think that people
really react to it. 'The Amazing Spider-Man' theatrical standee art
(Photo: Columbia Pictures) MM : Was there a specific ground from the earlier movies that you did not want
to cover again? Things that you felt had already been
established, so you could go our own way? MW : I felt it was important to start to define the parts of Peter Parker that were new and different. I mean,
I think Peter Parker emerges from this orphan
environment. He's abandoned by his parents at a
very young age and that has an emotional
consequence that tracks for the rest of his life. I felt
like that was an important thing to hit on, and that emerges — it manifests itself, I think, in a surly,
sometimes punk-rock attitude, and that quippy, really
trickster-y behavior the Spider-Man takes on. Once he
puts on that mask, he can act out that wish, that
fantasy, and that's something that was important to
do. I just wanted the movie to function on its own, in its own right. You don't have to have seen those
other movies. It's very different. We just wanted to
create a universe that functions on its own. It doesn't
have too much to do with the other one. MM : And as a part of creating your own identity for your Spider-Man, was there a certain look or attitude
you were hoping to latch onto? MW : Well, Andrew went to Queens to sort of study how kids behave, act, dress, and he was very specific
about the choices he made in terms of costumes and
stuff. It was about trying to find how a kid acts these
days given the background that he has. Meaning, he
was abandoned as a child -- and irrespective of the
parents' motives, or the conditions that surrounded that -- you can't help but feel a little bummed out by
that. And cheated, and a little distrustful of the world. There is an attitude, but again that manifests itself [by
Peter being] an outsider by choice. He has a
skateboard. He can be a little bit surly, but there's a
goodness to him that is sometimes misguided and
sometimes not, but there's an attitude. But I think it's
really specific to this Peter Parker that you haven't seen before. MM : I would imagine on the personal level, the theme of "With great power comes with great responsibility"
really drives home when you're running this gigantic
studio film with so many expectations. MW : Sure, people quote that to you a lot. And you do feel as sense of responsibility, but I also wanted to
have fun. And create a world that was fun and lively,
but still honored some of the more tragic elements of
the movie, but still had whimsy and romance. That
was all really, really important to me, but, yeah, you
can't help but to feel a little bit of pressure. But if you start going down that road, it's sort of a slippery
slope.
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