Spider-Man Star Andrew Garfield to Take Break From Acting

Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield says that he's going to be taking a break from acting, following his performance in the upcoming TV limited series Under the Banner of Heaven. "I'm going to rest for a little bit," Garfield told Variety's Marc Malkin. "I'm going to rest for a little bit. I need to recalibrate and reconsider what I want to do next and who I want to be and just be a bit of a person for awhile. Because as you know, that is a washing machine, that awards season. I need to just be a bit ordinary for a while."

Andrew Garfield has certainly had a whirlwind experience as of late: all three 2021 films he appeared in (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Tick, Tick... Boom!, Spider-Man: No Way Home) ended being Oscars contenders, keeping the young star out on the press promotional circuit for the better part of the year. Spider-Man: No Way Home alone kept Garfield having to be a one-man rumor-slayer (read: liar) for most of the year. That's a lot of exhaustive work being a talking head and ambassador between movie studios and the public. On a personal note, Garfield also lost his mother, Lynn, while making the Tammy Faye and Tick, Tick, a loss that he has openly admitted is still devastating him. So we get it when Andrew Garfield expresses the need to "just be a bit of a person for a while." 

Then again, Andrew Garfield may come to rue the legacy of lying to fans everywhere about his return as Peter Parker/Spider-Man: No Way Home. There's been heavy rumor that while Marvel Studios moves forward with its next Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland, Sony Pictures could develop the Sinister Six arc started in Morbius by bringing Garfield and his Amazing Spider-Man franchise back into the mix. That's all to say: Garfield could spend a fair portion of his "break" getting scrutiny, as some Marvel fans won't be able to let go of the notion that he's training for and filming his next Spider-Man project in secret. 

Under The Banner of Heaven "focuses on two brothers who murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother. The killers claimed they were acting on orders from God, consistent with their interpretation of a fundamentalist interpretation that goes back to the formation of Mormonism. The brothers were members of a splinter group called the School of Prophets, which adhered to original tenets of the faith that included polygamy and a belief that true believers could speak directly with God. These were rooted as the faith grew to a mainstream appeal, but the brothers remain convinced they were obeying God's command when they committed the heinous crime." It premieres on FX on Hulu starting on April 28th.