Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Auditions Both Emphasized Relationships With Other Characters
Casting a role as iconic as Spider-Man can be a daunting task. Tobey Maguire became the first modern Spider-Man in 2002, and more followed him. Although they were several years apart, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man auditions both focused on how Peter Parker interacted with other characters.
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man audition for ‘Captain America: Civil War’ cemented his Peter Parker
When Iron Man and Captain America drew the Avengers into a fierce battle in Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark pulled Peter Parker into the fight. When casting the iconic web-slinger, Holland’s energy caught the attention of Spider-Man: Homecoming producers Amy Pascal and Eric Carroll.
“We found a kid who not only is a great actor, but he also can do a standing backflip just for fun,” Carroll said in a video of Holland’s screen test via YouTube. “For a young man walking into a room with Robert Downey Jr. and into a room with Chris Evans, that’s got to be terrifying as an actor. You’re walking in with probably your childhood idols.”
The screen test shows Holland clicking with Chris Evans in a scene from Civil War. He even made Evans crack a smile with a quip. The Marvel Cinematic Universe places high importance on character dynamics. And Holland ultimately proved to have fun dynamics with several Marvel actors.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man audition focused on a different relationship
Andrew Garfield’s screen test for The Amazing Spider-Man focused on his dynamic with Emma Stone.
“When we tested them, there were fireworks,” director Marc Webb said in a behind-the-scenes video. “She could take on Andrew’s improvisations and witticisms and one-up him. I mean, it was amazing to see them go back and forth. And it was really fun to watch them, and it became a really obvious combination because that’s what people are there for.”
Stone, who played Spider-Man love interest Gwen Stacy, talked about how their relationship remained one of Webb’s “biggest goals.”
“Between Andrew and I, Marc’s biggest goal has been working out that relationship and making sure it feels authentic,” she said. “And he kind of brings it all back down to Earth, even though we’re operating in a superhero universe.
Emma Stone said the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy was ‘really important’ to all of them
Garfield and Stone’s Peter and Gwen had a tragic arc in The Amazing Spider-Man movies. Their acting elevated the story, and it even carried over into Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“It’s really important to Marc, and it’s certainly really important to Andrew and I, that this relationship would exist in a world of no superheroes,” Stone said in the behind-the-scenes video.
Every hero needs an origin, and every actor needs an audition tape. Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland’s screen tests eventually led to them teaming up with Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home. And those auditions could lead to even more fun in Sony’s Morbius and beyond.
