How We Live in Time Helped Andrew Garfield's Healing Journey After His Mom's Death

Andrew Garfield's latest film might be his most personal yet.

In We Live in Time, Garfield's character Tobias falls for Florence Pugh's Almut, whose medical diagnosis shakes their growing family. And for the 41-year-old, who lost his mom Lynn to pancreatic cancer in 2019, it's a story that hits very close to home.

"I think art heals," Garfield told E! News' Francesca Amiker at We Live in Time's world premiere during the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. "And I'm in the privileged position where I have an outlet for my own healing, my own grief."

And he sees the impact beyond just himself.

"Through art, when we are healing ourselves, we're also healing an audience," he continued. "Storytellers, we have to be wounded healers, we can't just claim to have answers. We have to be healing ourselves in order to heal others."

But to do so, actors have to go on a deep dive within themselves.

"We have to bring up the deepest soil of ourselves and the deepest soul of ourselves," the Oscar nominee added, "for an audience to feel reflected back within their souls. 'Cause that's where we're all connected, right? We're all connected down at the bottom of ourselves."

In fact, Garfield is grateful for the gift of being able to heal through art—and do it alongside Pugh.

"Florence is such a wonderful actor," he told E!, "and such a good friend and a deep friend."

"I think we had to create a proper trust between each other," Garfield said, "so we could travel to all those very intimate places together."

The film's director John Crowley also shared insight into Garfield's process.

"He took the most extraordinarily deep dive, emotionally," he told E!. "But I knew he would, that's why I wanted him to play the role. And I knew, when I read that script, that he would connect with it in a way that he would want to channel his emotions."

"And not just the grief," Crowley noted. "It's also the joy that he feels, he's funny and playful. And for him, it's all the same thing. That's what life is, it's not one thing."

We Live in Time is set for limited release Oct. 11.

To see more stars at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, keep reading...

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