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Andrew Garfield Opens Up About How The Death Of His Mother ‘Awakened His Consciousness’ – INTERVIEW

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Andrew Garfield details how the passing of his mother changed his work


Following the passing of his mother in 2021, Academy Award-winning actor Andrew Garfield became something of a model of how to constructively confront grief following a viral discussion about his experience on The Late Show.

But while Andrew Garfield has spoken extensively about how he dealt with the passing of his mother personally, he’s yet to detail how it’s affected him professionally, especially considering how much the art of acting relies on personal experiences and emotions.

Speaking to BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of his new film The Uprising — hitting theaters on September 10 — Garfield discussed how the passing of his mother “awakened his consciousness.”

How the passing of his mother has changed his process and his art; and what’d she think of his public expressions of grief

EI: You’ve spoken extensively about how you’ve dealt with it personally, but I’m curious how it’s dealt with you. How has it affected you professionally? I find the passing of my mom to be the most before-and-after moment of my life — I’m a different person. And given the engine of your work comes from emotion and experience, I’m curious how the passing of your mom changed you, and if that change has bled into your process and your work at all. Especially considering Ploughman’s past — I mean, it’s right there in the text.

AG: Yeah. No, definitely. And I appreciate you sharing that with me. I’m very touched by it. And I’m sure she’d be very, very proud of you and the man you are. I’m sure she always was.

It’s definitely a before and after. It’s like the world gets rearranged — or you just get revealed what the world was all along, and you were under some different illusion before.

On the most basic level, I suppose it’s awakened my consciousness to the temporariness of everything. That everything dies. That we’re all heading to the same place. And of course, if we work with that, if we acknowledge it and integrate it, it can make everything much more meaningful. It’s the only thing that makes everything sacred and meaningful in this life.

So I think, hopefully, it sharpens the aim of the arrow. In a way that could be a softening. Less knowing. More awakenedness to small things. More surrender to life on life’s terms. I hope for that — I hope that’s the way it has affected me, and continues to affect me. Less feeling like I need to have things figured out. More feeling that I want to just know life on all of its levels.

EI: Speaking of moms being proud — I did have written down here: what do you think it would mean to your mom that you’ve become something of the face of positively, constructively confronting grief, particularly as it relates to the death of a mom?

AG: Oh gosh. It was surprising to me that I was able to have conversations like I’ve had in public around that subject. It wasn’t part of a plan. It was something that just happened instinctively, in certain moments — and I’m really glad it did.

Because for whatever reason, it feels good to me to be able to destigmatise a conversation like this. Especially between two men. I think that’s very, very rare.

And I try to talk to my mother as often as I possibly can. I try to check in with her spirit.

The problem with my mother is that she would be proud of me if I was an axe murderer.

EI: I know what you’re talking about. That’s moms, though, right?

AG: Not all moms. Some moms — if you’re lucky. She would be delivering me home-baked cookies in jail until I perished there. So no matter what I do, she’s pretty happy that I exist, I think.

EI: Like I said — whenever I’m having difficulty, I find myself burying my feelings, suppressing the memories, just to be numb to it. And whenever I find myself doing that, I reflect on your words, and it’s a huge help to me. So thank you very much for that, and for your time today. I find that actors and celebrities can be controversial and divisive figures. You seem to be one of the most well-liked people in this business, and I think that’s because of the way you wear your heart and your soul on your sleeve, man. Thank you very much.

AG: Thank you, man. It’s nice to talk to you. And love to you. And — stay with the wound. Stay with the pain. It’s the place where all the gifts live.

The Uprising is the latest project from acclaimed filmmaker Paul Greengrass, who has previously directed films such as The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, Jason Bourne, United 93, Captain Phillips and more.

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.