{"id":19325,"date":"2022-05-02T22:35:07","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T02:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=19325"},"modified":"2022-05-02T22:35:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T02:35:07","slug":"andrew-garfield-discusses-spirituality-taking-an-acting-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2022\/05\/andrew-garfield-discusses-spirituality-taking-an-acting-break.html","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Garfield Discusses Spirituality, Taking an Acting Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Actor Andrew Garfield is known for roles in hit films like \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home,\u201d but his string of performances in religious-themed movies has sparked questions about Garfield\u2019s interest in spiritual matters. <\/strong>In 2016 he portrayed Desmond Doss, a real-life Christian \u201cconscientious objector\u201d (Doss himself disliked the term) who enlisted as a medic in World War II. Despite his insistence not to carry a gun, Doss would go on to save over seventy soldiers throughout multiple battles until ultimately getting hurt himself.<\/p>\n

Garfield portrayed Doss in the Mel Gibson helmed \u201cHacksaw Ridge,\u201d <\/em>earning himself an Oscar nomination. Soon after, he followed with his role as Jesuit priest Father Sebastiao Rodrigues in Martin Scorsese\u2019s film \u201cSilence.\u201d <\/em>These two films dealt deeply with faith and convictions and how they affect a person\u2019s character during the most trying times.<\/p>\n

Garfield\u2019s other two prominent faith-based roles, first as Jim Bakker in \u201cThe Eyes of Tammy Faye\u201d<\/em> and most recently as a Mormon detective investigating murders in \u201cUnder the Banner of Heaven,\u201d <\/em>dive more deeply into questions of hypocrisy and abuse of power. In a recent interview with \u201cCollider,\u201d Garfield responded to a Twitter user\u2019s question about his interest in portraying men of faith (or lost faith), saying, \u201cFor me, [spirituality] is a very fertile ground that is endlessly interesting because it\u2019s really- if you\u2019re dealing with spirituality, you\u2019re dealing with faith, then you\u2019re really dealing with life and death. And what\u2019s more vital?\u201d<\/p>\n

For his most recent role in \u201cUnder the Banner of Heaven,\u201d Garfield is branching out into the Mormon religion, and that will be interesting to see what kind of insight he gains from that experience. He was also slated to play Charles Ryder in a revamped mini-series of \u201cBrideshead Revisited.\u201d However, that project was recently stated to be shelved by director Luca Guadagnino during an interview with Indiewire. \u201cBrideshead\u201d dives deeply into the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see if the project is picked back up with Garfield still attached and how that might impact Garfield\u2019s continued dive into spirituality. His interest in spirituality has seemed to influence him personally as in 2016, he described himself as a \u201cpantheist, agnostic, occasionally atheist, and a little bit Jewish, but mostly confused\u201d to the Hollywood Reporter, yet in 2017 he described himself as \u201cfalling in love with Jesus\u201d in America Magazine.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview in Vanity Fair, he stated that he would be studying theology if he weren\u2019t acting. \u201cQuestions of faith and spirituality, and the mystery of a spiritual life, is what I\u2019m drawn to the most,\u201d Garfield\u00a0said. \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t an actor, I think I\u2019d be doing some kind of theological study.\u201d However, in that same interview, Garfield revealed that he\u2019s considering taking a break from acting. It\u2019s unclear where his following roles will take him or if this \u201cbreak\u201d will allow him to embrace the faith that seems to be speaking to his heart.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Buchanan is first a follower of Christ, wife to her wonderful husband, and blessed mother of three beautiful girls. She is an avid Inklings nerd and would spend all day reading if she could. She has a passion for writing about Christian living and culture, homeschooling, and adoption.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actor Andrew Garfield is known for roles in hit films like \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home,\u201d but his string of performances in religious-themed movies has sparked questions about Garfield\u2019s interest in spiritual matters. In 2016 he portrayed Desmond Doss, a real-life Christian \u201cconscientious objector\u201d (Doss himself disliked the term) who enlisted as a medic in World…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":630,"featured_media":19331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nAndrew Garfield Discusses Spirituality, Taking an Acting Break<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Actor Andrew Garfield is known for roles in hit films like \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home,\u201d but his string of performances in religious-themed movies has sparked questions about Garfield\u2019s interest in spiritual matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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