In the last year, Andrew Garfield has done three films and a TV series. Now, he’s doing something for himself.
Garfield, who has appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Tick, Tick … Boom!, and the FX crime series Under the Banner of Heaven, has said he’s going to take some time off and just refuel.
The 38-year-old actor told People magazine that he’s looking forward to being out of the spotlight.
“I’m actually really happy and excited to be very quiet and very still and take some time to just be,” Garfield said. “It feels very important right now, especially after a lot of output, a lot of being out in the world, and giving a lot of energy to things that I’m very passionate about, but I have to kind of refill the well so that I can carry on authentically carry on without it feeling like I have to keep up with the Joneses in some way.”
He continued, “Like it’s so tempting to live in that way of just always onto the next thing. But actually, and I know it’s a privilege that I get to even consider that, to actually take time.”
Garfield credited gymnast Simone Biles as a beacon for the time off, noting, “I’m very inspired by her saying, ‘Bope, I’m not going to do that vault. I’m going to endanger myself if I vault today.’ I find that really an incredible example.”
He also said Kendrick Lamar’s hiatus was important in his decision. “But I really admire anyone who can forego the temptation of having to be always on the up and up. Someone who can really be on their own rhythm, bang to the beat of their own drum. So that’s what I’m looking forward to. And I don’t know. Because honestly, if I pretended to know it would be a disservice to me and to an audience as well. So I want to make sure I make things that feel genuine and authentic to myself and hopefully connect in a deep way to an audience.”
What will he do during the time off? His first thought appears to be “not much.”
“I hope that I can go on vacation. It’s more just, even getting on a plane right now feels like too much. I kind of want to lay down and just think and not think and watch other people’s work and just be really, really, really kind of… and listen to music and be with friends and eat burgers, you know, just kind of be a person.”
