Focus Features
Andrew Garfield went directly from playing a billionaire to a peasant
Few people know what it’s like to be a billionaire in the 2020s or a peasant in the Late Middle Ages. Even fewer people know what it’s like to experience both those lifestyles in the same year. Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield did exactly that by filming Artificial and The Uprising back-to-back.
Speaking to BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of his new Paul Greengrass-directed film The Uprising — hitting theaters in the United States on September 10 — two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Andrew Garfield detailed the “fascinating” experience of going from playing billionaire AI technocrat Sam Altman to 14th-century peasant revolutionary “Ploughman” in The Uprising.
The experience of filming Artificial and The Uprising, two films at opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, back-to-back
ERIC ITALIANO, BROBIBLE: Between THE UPRISING and your next film, ARTIFICIAL, you’re playing on two polar opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. In fact, it could be argued that Sam Altman and his fellow tech overlords see themselves as our new kings. How did playing two characters on such polar opposite sides — particularly when it comes to the issues of wealth and power — what was that like for you? And did it change your own personal opinions or perspective at all?
ANDREW GARFIELD: Yeah, I appreciate the question. The first project I shot was the ARTIFICIAL film, and then I went and shot THE UPRISING straight after. I’m really, really happy it was in that order, because it felt like playing Ploughman was a direct kind of healing response to —
EI: Wash that filth off of you with some dirt?
AG: Your words, not mine! But it was interesting. You could say you play an emperor, a modern emperor, and then you play someone who’s at the mercy of the rules and the decisions the emperors are making.
It was the right order. It was fascinating. Absolutely fascinating, and I’m very, very grateful for the experience. And you’re right — they couldn’t be more opposite. They are the polar opposites of our culture right now. I feel very lucky to have felt the disparity of those experiences.
The Uprising is the latest project from acclaimed filmmaker Paul Greengrass, who has previously directed films such as The Bourne Supremacy, United 93, and Captain Phillips.
Alongside Garfield, The Uprising also stars Jamie Bell, Stephen Dillane, Tom Hollander, Cosmo Jarvis, Thomasin McKenzie, Jonny Lee Miller, Woody Norman and Katherine Waterston. Check out the official trailer below.