“If I wasn’t an actor, I think I’d be doing some kind of theological study,” actor Andrew Garfield shared with Vanity Fair. “Questions of faith and spirituality, and the mystery of a spiritual life, is what I’m drawn to the most.”
Actor Andrew Garfield may be best known for his roles in blockbuster movies including The Amazing Spider-Man, The Social Network and other hits, but more and more has been drawn to the roles that deal with faith, spirituality, life and death. He told Collider while premiering Through the Eyes of Tammy Faye (a film about the life of Jim Baker and his ex-wife Tammy Faye),
“It’s mysterious, isn’t it? We are drawn to what we’re drawn to and we love what we love. So, for me, I guess I have this endless curiosity towards, you know, the spiritual dimension of being alive. You know, the fact that we’re all going to die. That fascinates me. And how do we get ready for that? Because it’s coming.”
Garfield wasn’t raised with faith but it’s something he has explored over the years and found himself drawn to in storytelling.
“And that’s what spirituality is for me, I think. It’s a kind of awareness of the finite nature of being here. And making sense and meaning out of it while we are here.”
Garfield has played roles including a Jesuit priest in Silence, and a Seventh-Day Adventist in Hacksaw Ridge. More recently he played Jim Baker and the upcoming Hulu series, Under the Banner of Heaven.
In 2016, Garfield was interviewed by actor Amy Adams for Variety where he discussed the preparation process for Silence. In preparing for the film, Garfield met regularly with Father Martin, a Jesuit priest and spiritual director where he became so immersed in the spiritual disciplines, he found himself deepening in his own faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Its basically a meditation in the life of Christ where you go from his birth to his resurrection.”
Garfield explained that the process is a spiritual exercise that you go through over a course of 30 days of meditation.
“You imagine yourself into the life of Christ, enough so that I think about it now, I have an actual relationship to Jesus, there it is. I said it and I am going to move on from it. I say that with an awareness of the weirdness of it. It’s a very sincerely transformative process that this man created, this saint created. It’s changed the lives of millions of people.”
Garfield went on to explain that this same process developed the basis for the 12 step program for alcoholics anonymous that has helped millions of people around the world based on the same spiritual exercises.
Photo Editorial credit: LaCameraChiara / Shutterstock.com
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