With the world premiere of John Crowley’s “We Live In Time” coming next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, a previously unknown romantic drama immediately catapulted onto many people’s radar. This isn’t just another British feature but an A24 film starring Academy Award nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. It’s the kind of film Garfield’s fan base especially gravitates towards. He is not a man who flourishes wielding a gun or being aggressive. Rather, he’s a deeply talented performer who excites audiences when playing softer roles that exude warmth. He can undoubtedly grapple with more complicated roles in titles like “Silence.” Still, the mild vitality surrounding the trailer for “We Live In Time” exemplifies the kind of roles general audiences like to see Garfield portray. It’s clear what moviegoers most like seeing Garfield inhabit. Though, what’s a little less clear is his history with the Academy. What’s the larger history behind Garfield’s brushes with awards season fame? His two Best Actor Oscar nominations aren’t the whole story.
Though his feature film acting career began in 2007 and quickly entailed working with filmmakers like Robert Redford, Terry Gilliam, and Mark Romanek, Garfield exploded onto the acting scene with his performance in the Oscar-winning “The Social Network.” His unforgettable turn solidified him as a significant performer and got him his first taste of awards season attention. As “The Social Network” became more and more popular across the 2010-2011 awards season, Garfield mightily reaped the rewards.
For his work in “The Social Network,” Garfield scored Best Supporting Actor nominations at awards organizations like the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. Also, several major critics awards groups gave Garfield nominations in the same category that season. With all this hype and “The Social Network” being perceived as a Best Picture frontrunner, one would assume Garfield would’ve registered as a serious Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee. Instead, he was eventually overlooked in the category. Garfield had left an impression on Oscar voters in 2010, but being a relative newcomer on the scene, it wasn’t enough to get him a spot in the final five.
Thanks to his exploits anchoring the “The Amazing Spider-Man” movies for four years, Garfield’s dramatic acting pursuits briefly paused. This also resulted in the actor failing off the awards season radar for a bit. His first post-Spidey performance was in the indie drama “99 Homes,” a grueling look at how capitalism turns working-class people against each other. Garfield earned acclaim for his performance, but there was never a chance he’d get much awards season love for it. Not only was “99 Homes” a smaller movie that flew under the radar but all the attention for the feature went to Michael Shannon’s gripping supporting performance. While Shannon received a slew of Best Supporting Actor nominations for “99 Homes,” his co-star watched on the sidelines. However, Garfield was making a name for himself, and this young actor’s time for Oscar glory was just around the corner.
For playing Desmond Doss in “Hacksaw Ridge,” Garfield finally secured his first Oscar nomination that eluded him a few years earlier with “The Social Network.” Nominated for Best Actor, Garfield secured nominations in the same category at several other major award shows beforehand, including the BAFTA, Golden Globes, SAG, and Critics Choice Awards. That same year, Garfield anchored “Silence,” a Martin Scorsese movie showcasing some of his finest work as an actor. Considering how many performers in Scorsese films in modern times have been nominated for Oscars – Mark Wahlberg for “The Departed,” and two performers each in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Irishman,“ and “Killers of the Flower Moon“ – it’s shocking to consider that Garfield never even got a whisper of awards season love for his brilliant, grueling work in “Silence.”
Despite his acclaimed performance in “Hacksaw Ridge” overshadowing the darker Scorsese film, why was Garfield’s profound “Silence” performance left entirely out in the cold during the 2016-2017 award season? The biggest reason is, simply, “Silence” did not go anywhere at all in that particular awards season. Though it received great reviews, “Silence” premiered at the last possible moment and was drastically outshined by other adult dramas opening around the same time. It did score a Best Cinematography nomination at the Oscars, but otherwise, it was largely ignored by award ceremonies that year. Unsurprisingly, that performance impacted Garfield’s chances but helped propel him to even greater heights following the success of “Hacksaw Ridge.”
“Silence” was tragically refuted, but with “Hacksaw Ridge,” Garfield could finally lay claim to being an Oscar-nominated performer. A year later, he anchored the critically derided Andy Serkis-directed drama “Breathe,” which did not go anywhere near the awards circuit. Garfield would be absent from other Oscar hopefuls for the rest of the decade thanks to his focus on anchoring a new version of “Angels in America” in England and Broadway. This experience won him a Tony Award and reaffirmed his extraordinary gifts as an actor, buying even greater clout from the acting community. It was only a matter of time before the Oscars came calling again.
Garfield’s second Oscar-nominated performance arrived with “Tick, Tick, Boom!” This Lin-Manuel Miranda adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name was a huge fixture of the 2021-2022 award season landscape, especially for Garfield’s highly praised performance. Given how many Best Actor nominations he scored at the precursors, it was unfathomable that he’d miss out on a second Oscar nomination. His work in the Oscar-winning feature “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” from the same year went largely unrecognized, though that wasn’t surprising. That film belonged to Jessica Chastain, while Garfield’s performance drew mixed marks from critics. Still, some might say it helped to keep him on voters’ radar enough that it aided in the nomination for “Tick, Tick, Boom!.”
Given his lengthy connection to awards shows that have now stretched on for nearly 15 years, does Garfield have a shot at another Oscar nomination this year for “We Live In Time?” That will largely rest on the film’s reception at the Toronto International Film Festival. Crowley’s 2015 feature “Brooklyn” was nominated for Best Picture and even scored a Best Actress nomination for Saoirse Ronan, while his 2007 title “Boy A” (also starring Garfield) had its fair share of high-profile awards season nominations. However, Crowley has also directed big critical boondoggles like “The Goldfinch,” so it’s hard to say where “We Live In Time” will land. What is clear is that the film will build on Garfield’s esteemed reputation and recurring awards season presence. Acting opposite Academy Award-nominee Florence Pugh, can’t hurt either.
Which films should Andrew Garfield have been Oscar-nominated for in the past? Do you think he’ll have a chance to earn another nomination with “We Live In Time?” Please let us know in the comments section below or on Next Best Picture’s X account and be sure to check out their latest Oscar nomination predictions here.
You can follow Lisa and hear more of her thoughts on the Oscars & Film on her portfolio here