Andrew Garfield says Zendaya helped improvise emotional MJ/Gwen scene in No Way Home

18 January 2022, 15:13

Andrew Garfield addresses Spider-Man: No Way Home rumours

By Katie Louise Smith

"Whether it was improvised or whether it was just her idea to say that in the writing, to check in on me, to ask if I was ok, that was all her."

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As we all know by now, Andrew Garfield is in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Over the course of the past year, he has lied, he has hoodwinked and he has bamboozled his way through countless interviews, denying that he was returning as Peter Parker... But he really did return – and it was actually amazing.

Now that the world finally knows, Andrew has been opening up about returning to the beloved role of Spider-Man, and what it was like shooting those incredible scenes alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Andrew spoke about the all important scene with Zendaya's MJ that brought back all those memories of Gwen Stacy's devastating death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

It turns out that Zendaya actually helped improvise the small yet powerfully emotional dialogue in that moment where Andrew's Peter saves MJ's life by catching her.

Andrew Garfield says Zendaya improvised the MJ/Gwen moment in No Way Home. Picture: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images, Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios

"I forget whether it was scripted or not," Andrew told host Josh, when asked about whether the scene was actually written like that on the page. "I think it was really important to feel like it was a moment for my Peter of, 'I think I just saved you, I think I did. And I need you to tell me that I did. Because I'm not seeing you in my arms right now, I'm seeing Gwen not breathing in my arms right now.'"

He continued: "So I think there's genuine disbelief in Peter in that moment to check in and say, 'Are you ok?' And the affirmation of that, and then it can start to sink in and you kind of feel Gwen's hand on Peter's back a little bit going, 'You can rest now'. There's that cosmic thing that happens."

Then, Andrew goes on to credit Zendaya with making that scene even more emotional thanks to her additional comment after Peter catches her.

"And then this is a tribute to Zendaya as a creative person and as an actress because she saw what I was doing and the effect it was having, and she's just a sensitive human being and MJ's just a sensitive beautiful character, whether it was improvised or whether it was just her idea to say that in the writing, to check in on me, to ask if I was ok, that was all her."

Andrew Garfield reveals @Zendaya helped improvise THAT scene in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.

Want to check out our entire 45 minute spoiler chat? I'm a little biased but it's really good!

Listen: https://t.co/p2L1jwCnVS

Watch: https://t.co/e84WokCDhq pic.twitter.com/0AhlVYuZBq
— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) January 17, 2022

In a previous interview with Variety, Andrew revealed that the MJ scene was the one that convinced him to come back as his version of Peter Parker: “I will say the image of my catching MJ — that was really beautiful and it kind of sold me on the whole thing.”

In the same interview, he also confirmed that he improvised one of the best scenes in the entire film: “There’s a line I improvised in the movie, looking at [Maguire and Holland] and I tell them I love them. That was just me loving them."