Look him up, and it’s easy to see how Andrew Garfield could have been expected to simply be a teen heartthrob. Garfield has starred in a wide variety of projects, the most famous of which has been his portrayal of Spider-Man in multiple films, including the latest Marvel hit, No Way Home. However, the highlight of Garfield’s 2021, a year which undoubtedly saw him break out as a performer, was definitely his brilliant performance in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film Tick, Tick… Boom! which received a lot of critical acclaim.
The latest version of Tick, Tick… Boom! by Lin-Manuel Miranda is an adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical, eponymous musical, starring Garfield in the lead. The film chronicles Larson’s struggles as he comes to terms with the hard truths about the mediocrity of his talents and the stagnancy of his career.
While Netflix had started planning the project in 2019, there were a lot of disruptions in the production process due to the pandemic. There were extensive rehearsals in the pre-pandemic period but once the pandemic hit, filming only resumed under very severe restrictions and in accordance with strict safety protocols.
According to Garfield’s co-star Vanessa Hudgens, Lin-Manuel Miranda was a huge fan of the source material as well as Larson. “He’s been dreaming about this as long as he can remember,” she said. “So the fact that he got to do it, that radiates. That’s a whole other energy. And for us to be there with him – we all have our own connections I think with Jonathan Larson, and it just felt like there were moments of magic, and he’s a big reason why that was.”
Involvement in the project has certainly paid off for Garfield as he has already picked up a lot of nominations and accolades for his performance. He even managed to enter the race for Best Actor at the Oscars this year, competing alongside other extremely talented icons such as Denzel Washington and Benedict Cumberbatch.
In order to explain his love for musicals and the inherent magic of the genre, Garfield actually spoke to Rotten Tomatoes about some of his favourite musicals in film history. These range from universally beloved classics to recent projects that have come to the attention of audiences and critics by asking important questions.
While talking about Alan Parker’s 1976 crime comedy Bugsy Malone, Garfield explained that it was a film about “young gangsters who are twelve-thirteen years old who are shooting each other with custard pies. It sounds weird and it is but it’s also incredible and the songs are incredible.”
The actor mentioned that Jodie Foster’s performance in the film was wonderful and the film also happens to feature one of his favourite musical moments: “You have this wonderful character called Fizzy who sings one of my favourite songs and it’s called ‘Tomorrow.'”
Check the full list below.
Andrew Garfield’s five favourite musicals:
- Bugsy Malone (Alan Parker, 1976)
- Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
- Grease 2 (Patricia Birch, 1982)
- In the Heights (Jon M. Chu, 2021)
- The Band Wagon (Vincente Minnelli, 1953)
