Andrew Garfield talks 'Breathe', Spider-Man and taking risks as an actor

“The character I play is an amazing man," Garfield, 34, told Peter Travers.

ByABC News
October 20, 2017, 1:34 PM

— -- Andrew Garfield is so far removed from playing Spider-Man, he hasn’t even seen the latest installment in the film franchise -- but the actor said it’s on his list.

“I haven’t actually seen it yet,” the "Breathe" star said in an appearance on “Popcorn With Peter Travers.” "But when I do watch it, I probably will shed a tear."

PHOTO: Andrew Garfield in a scene from "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," 2014.
Andrew Garfield in a scene from "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," 2014.

Garfield played the webbed wonder in 2012 and again in 2014, while Tom Holland stars in the latest film.

Garfield then moved on to an Oscar-nominated role in director Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge" last year and is already generating buzz with "Breathe."

“The character I play is an amazing man," Garfield, 34, told Peter Travers.

Garfield plays Robin Cavendish in "a true story about this amazing man and his wife."

"He contracted polio when he was 28. He was then paralyzed from the neck down, and he couldn’t breathe for himself. They put a breathing tube in and he was connected to a ventilator where he was breathed for, for the rest of his life," Garfield said.

PHOTO: Andrew Garfield appears on "Popcorn with Peter Travers" at ABC News studios, Oct. 11, 2017, in New York City.
Andrew Garfield appears on "Popcorn with Peter Travers" at ABC News studios, Oct. 11, 2017, in New York City.

Download the all new "Popcorn With Peter Travers" podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Tunein, Google Play Music and Stitcher.

“Ultimately, it’s an inspiring story about what’s meaningful in life and how we create lives that are very meaningful," Garfield added. "It’s a film that really has the power to bring people into a more fully realized version of their own existence."

PHOTO: Hugh Bonneville, Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Harry Marcus and Tom Hollander in "Breathe," a Bleecker Street and Participant Media release.
Hugh Bonneville, Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Harry Marcus and Tom Hollander in "Breathe," a Bleecker Street and Participant Media release.

Travers asked Garfield what it is that gets him through such roles.

“I know it’s not brain surgery or rocket science. I’m not saving lives,” Garfield said. “But there is something very scary, I find in my position, to open up my heart and to be vulnerable in front of thousands of people in a theater or millions of people who are watching a film. Because there are people who are going to be watching going, ‘Oh, I don’t like him. Get him off. Why is he on there?’ That is an inevitability. So it’s how do we feel the fear and step into the fire anyway? How do we do that?"

"Breathe" is now in theaters across the country.

Be sure to watch the full interview with Peter Travers and Andrew Garfield in the video above.