Andrew Garfield Recalls Robert Redford Being Four Hours Late on His First Film
Andrew Garfield told Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast that Robert Redford was "famously late" on Lions for Lambs, but also made the young actor feel like an equal.
Andrew Garfield has shared a fond story about working with the late Robert Redford on his first film. He said Redford turned up four hours late on set, and he told it with affection.
The actor spoke on the latest episode of Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast.
What Garfield said
Garfield made his film debut in the 2007 war drama Lions for Lambs. Redford directed it and also starred in it, alongside Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. Garfield played a student called Todd Hayes.
Asked about Redford, Garfield called him "a beautiful, beautiful man and very late all the time to everything". He added: "I say it with love."
He described being "terrified and nervous and pinching myself" on set, "and then Bob is four hours late". He joked that he was angry by that point, then made clear he wasn't. By his account, the wait had eased his nerves, because Redford was so relaxed and cool when he did appear.
Garfield also remembered Redford's style. He said the star "still dressed like he was in his twenties with the double denim".
Redford, he said, wasn't aware he was late. "He was just on his own Redford time," Garfield said, adding that he was "a famously late person".
Poehler joked that "God is fair", because Redford was so handsome there had to be something wrong with him.
A generous co-star
Garfield said Redford was kind to him despite his inexperience. Because Redford was also directing, he would shoot his own take first and then ask Garfield what he thought of it.
Garfield said he told him, "It's great. Really good, Robert Redford." He said Redford made him feel "like it was my set" and "like I was an equal", and that Redford knew it was his first movie.
Garfield also praised Redford's work for the wider film community, including co-founding the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, according to BuzzFeed's account of the interview.
Redford and Garfield's careers
Redford rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s. His best-known roles include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, All the President's Men and Indecent Proposal. He won an Oscar for directing Ordinary People and received an honorary Academy Award in 2002. He retired in 2018 and died last year aged 89.
Garfield went on to play Spider-Man in three films. His other credits include The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge and Tick, Tick... Boom!. He received Oscar nominations for best actor for the last two.
What Garfield is doing now
Garfield stars as OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman in Artificial, a biographical comedy drama directed by Luca Guadagnino. The Independent reports that indie distributor Neon is releasing the film after Amazon dropped it earlier this year. That came shortly after Amazon announced a partnership with OpenAI.
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