9 Things We Learned From Zendaya and Andrew Garfield's Interview

“I loved shooting that with you so much,” Garfield told Zendaya of the iconic scene involving multiple Peter Parkers in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Apparently, the scene was the first thing the two actors filmed together. “‘I met you yesterday. Thanks for catching me. You have to cry. Sorry,'” Zendaya quipped, with Garfield also describing the scene as “pretty intense.” But both were happy about the scene, with Zendaya celebrating the “amount of joy” it brought people and Garfield musing on the scene’s importance. “I love the idea that maybe Tom’s Peter would’ve suffered the same fate as Andrew’s Peter if Andrew hadn’t have somehow come into that universe and learned from the mistakes of the past – and made sure that my younger brother and his love didn’t have the same fate,” he said.

Zendaya’s performance as Rue on the second season of “Euphoria” is a gruelling exploration of the agony of addiction – and many people worried about the actor after seeing some of her more painful scenes, including Garfield. “I was like, ‘Are you OK? How did you make sure you were OK while you were doing that?'” he asked, specifically referencing episode five, which focuses on Rue seemingly hitting rock bottom.

“It’s tough,” Zendaya admitted, adding that she had been “afraid” to shoot the episode and that she “did get a lot of messages from people checking in on me, which I appreciated.” She went on to explain that her “approach was to try [to make] it as human as possible without ever shying away from the devastation and the ugliness of what that can create.”

Garfield stayed in character on the set of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” so much so that Zendaya apparently “kept forgetting” that he is English.

For Garfield, it was about preserving the character’s integrity and staying consistent on set. “With an accent for me, I just don’t want to confuse my body and I don’t want to confuse someone else’s system. It’s just simpler,” he said.

Apparently, even someone as successful as Garfield also sometimes feels like he’s not doing enough for the world. “My brother’s treating COVID patients as we speak, and I’m wearing a lovely jacket talking about ‘Spider-Man,'” said Garfield. “But then he goes home and watches ‘Spider-Man’ with his boys. Oh no, I’m just trying to justify my existence.” Garfield also added that he has an acting teacher who emphasises the importance of delivering healing performances: “‘If it isn’t healing, then we are not doing it right,'” he quoted.

Zendaya echoed Garfield’s sentiments about the importance of delivering performances that can heal and provide catharsis for viewers, adding that helping people through her performances is very important to her. “I think for me being in service of other people’s healing through my work means that what I’m doing makes sense,” she said.

At one point in the interview, Zendaya mentioned an inside joke she shared with Garfield about Maguire’s “crazy forearms.” While it took Garfield a minute to remember the joke, he eventually caught on. “He had these crazy . . . ,” Garfield began, with Zendaya finishing, “forearms,” and Garfield adding, “Good joke bank you got there in that noggin of yours. That was really good.”

Zendaya got her start playing a singer and dancer on “Shake It Up,” released an album, and appeared on multiple “Euphoria” soundtrack songs, but the verified triple threat is glad to stick to acting as opposed to attempting a music career.

“As an actor, there’s a level of anonymity that I get to have, which I really like,” she said. “And I get to sort my stuff, whatever that is, through a character and nobody needs to know about it.” But as a pop star, she said, “It’s all you all the time.”

Zendaya revealed that her boyfriend, Holland, was “so nervous” about Garfield and Maguire coming on set. “He was like, ‘I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,'” Zendaya said. Apparently, though, Holland never let his nerves show, and he and Zendaya hung out at rehearsals with Garfield and Maguire.

Holland’s nerves also didn’t stop him and Zendaya from engaging in their usual on-set antics. “We were like, ‘I think they don’t know how much fun we like to have when we’re doing this job,'” Zendaya said. And from the sounds of things, the “Spider-Man: No Way Home” set was a bit of a party. “I’m pissing myself laughing, but I was dying,” she said. “You guys had me dying – like crying laughing – in between takes all the time.”

Zendaya was well aware of “‘Euphoria’ Sundays,” when the entire internet would seemingly log on to post about the latest episode of the show. “It became a sporting event,” she said. “I think it’s hilarious.”

Still, it made her “really nervous,” she said, “because we were still in the middle of editing.” While the fifth episode was coming out, Zendaya was still working on rewriting a version of “I’m Tired” with Labrinth, which would air in the finale. However, she was happy to see the sense of collectivity and community that “‘Euphoria’ Sundays” created.

Garfield may be raking in millions from his onscreen roles now, but his first acting role was in a Doritos commercial in Spain. He made two grand from the performance, which felt like a million bucks at the time. “I thought I was done,” he said, adding that he showed his dad the check and said, “I don’t need to work at Starbucks for the next week.”

But he wasn’t always prepared for the spotlight. In his first “Spider-Man” role, Garfield admitted he “wasn’t ready.” He added: “I was like . . . I don’t know who I am yet. And my prefrontal cortex is still forming.”