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Andrew Garfield says his comments about being 'a gay man' were taken out of context

Garfield... says gay comments were twisted out of context - Credit: AP
Garfield… says gay comments were twisted out of context – Credit: AP

Andrew Garfield hit some social media turbulence earlier this month, after saying that he was ‘a gay man right now, just without the physical act’.

Some objected to and were offended by the ‘Spider-Man’ actor’s sentiments, slating him for appearing to entirely over-simplify what it means to be gay.

He made the comments during a panel discussion around the prep he’d been doing for his lead role in the play ‘Angels In America’, set in mid-80s New York in midst of the AIDS crisis, and currently running at the National Theatre in London.

But he’s now said that his remarks were taken out of context.

He told Radio 1’s Newsbeat: “That’s of course not what I meant at all. That discussion was about this play and how deeply grateful I am that I get to work on something so profound.

“It’s a love letter to the LGBTQ community. We were talking about, ‘How do you prepare for something so important and so big?’ and I was basically saying, ‘I dive in as fully as I possibly can.’

“My only longing is to serve and to keep the world spinning forward for the LGBTQ community in whatever way I’m meant to. … The intention [in my comments] was to speak to that, speak to my desire to play this part to the best of my ability and to fully immerse myself in a culture that I adore.”

Garfield was speaking about his time in rehearsals for the play, a Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning work written by Tony Kushner in 1993, when he made the initial remarks.

“My only time off during rehearsals — every Sunday I would have eight friends over and we would just watch [RuPaul’s Drag Race].

“This is my life outside of this play. I am a gay man right now, just without the physical act — that’s all,” he said.

Previews of Garfield’s performance in the play began in April, and has received rave reviews, with the run now sold out.

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