Culture

INTERVIEW – Andrew Garfield On Playing Sam Altman: ‘Modern Emperor Who Feels Like He’s the Right Leader For This Moment’

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Andrew Garfield says tech billionaires may see themselves as "modern emperors"


Andrew Garfield, after famously playing Eduardo Saverin in David Fincher’s 2010 modern classic The Social Network, will be returning to the realm of tech overlords when he plays divisive OpenAI founder Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino’s much-discussed and highly anticipated film Artificial. Originally set to be released by Amazon, the tech giant dropped the project earlier this year, which has since been picked up by Neon.

Speaking to BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of his new film The Uprising — the Paul Greengrass-directed film about Wat Tyler’s legendary 1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England — Andrew Garfield discussed the experience of going from playing Sam Altman in Artificial to “Ploughman” in The Uprising, and how Altman and his ilk see themselves as something of modern-day emperors.

Andrew Garfield on the experience of filming Artificial and The Uprising, two films at opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, back-to-back

EI: 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?

AG: 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.

EI: And then you have a fascinating professional relationship with playing a hero. You could play a hero that everybody knows like the back of their hand, in Spider-Man. You’re playing a sort of vaguer hero that nobody’s ever heard of in Ploughman. And then you’re playing somebody like Sam Altman, who thinks they’re the hero of their own story but is more likely the villain — again, my words, my words!

How are those different shades of hero? How does that work for you in terms of bringing those to life?

AG: Yeah, it’s a cool question. I hadn’t really thought about that before.

Peter Parker is obviously a reluctant hero, but very well known, very famous in that way. And then Ploughman — again, a very reluctant hero. There’s no doubt he would never identify himself in any way as heroic. He’s just doing what his soul requires. He’s being led by his soul.

And then there’s Sam, who I do believe feels like he is the right leader for this moment. I feel like that’s a genuine self-belief. And you hope there’s healthy questioning in there. The Ploughman is someone who has the humility accessible to him, so he feels like he shouldn’t lead — which makes him a great leader. And then you have Sam, who has chosen the position. Or maybe he actually perceives it as having been thrust upon him as well; I don’t know.

But it’s very interesting to consider the responsibility — to go back to Peter Parker — of the power that is either thrust upon us or that we choose to adopt.

Alongside Garfield, The Uprising — the latest project from the Bourne Supremacy, United 93, and Captain Phillips filmmaker — also stars Jamie Bell, Stephen Dillane, Tom Hollander, Cosmo Jarvis, Thomasin McKenzie, Jonny Lee Miller, Woody Norman, and Katherine Waterston.