Andrew Garfield The Social Network (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Andrew Garfield once got a little too wrapped up in The Social Network, and it showed. The actor admitted he carried his character’s anger into a Golden Globes party weekend, leading to an “altercation” he still looks back on with a wince.
Garfield, who played Eduardo Saverin opposite Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg, said filming The Social Network was an intense experience. Shooting kicked off in October 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, under the sharp eye of director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. The movie traced the true story of how Saverin and Zuckerberg’s friendship cracked under the weight of Facebook’s rise and millions of dollars.
Working with Fincher meant countless takes, which Garfield said pushed him to deliver raw performances. In an interview with Collider, Andrew Garfield explained, “One of the things I understand about why he does that amount of takes is that he’s getting the actor so that the actor forgets they’re being filmed.” Exhausting? Yes. Effective? Definitely.
One moment, though, blurred the line between character and real life. Garfield revealed that during filming a key confrontation scene with Justin Timberlake’s Sean Parker, he decided not to break character over a weekend break. Andrew Garfield stayed locked into Eduardo’s brewing resentment, and it followed him right into the Golden Globes festivities. Garfield said the experience taught him a sharp lesson about when to leave a character on set. “Sometimes it’s useful to keep it with me, and other times, it’s very important to leave it,” he shared.
Despite the emotional rollercoaster, The Social Network racked up eight Oscar nominations and snagged three wins. While many fans still believe Garfield was snubbed for an acting nomination, his portrayal of Saverin remains one of the film’s standout performances.
Years later, Garfield even joked about the legacy of his most memorable scene during a BuzzFeed “Thirst Tweets” session. After a fan wrote, “I wish Andrew Garfield would whisper ‘you better lawyer up, a**hole’ in my ear,” he laughed, “If I can’t make money in other ways, I will charge people for me to whisper in their ear, ‘You better lawyer up, a**hole.’”
