Spider-Man's Web of love

When we first interviewed Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone back in 2012 in Cancun, Mexico, we were impressed at how deftly Tinseltown’s Super Couple handled the media’s barrage of questions with clever quips and deflections, choosing to charm hard-nosed journos with their obvious chemistry.

Two years on, the twosome were in Singapore to promote the second instalment of the Amazing Spider-Man reboot and nothing has changed.

Their sizzling real life/reel life chemistry seems more palatable than ever. Like how Peter Parker (played by Garfield) fell for Gwen Stacey (Stone) in the first movie, Emdrew — yes, that’s what we’re calling them now — reportedly fell in love while filming The Amazing Spider-Man in 2011. The 30-year-old Garfield and 25-year-old Stone have always been notoriously private about talking about their real-life relationship. And rightfully so. But that didn’t stop us from digging out 10 interesting factoids about Spidey and his girlfriend.

1. ANDREW GARFIELD IS FIRMLY IN EMMA STONE’S BOOKS

Said Emma Stone: “He cares so much and he has such a huge amount of talent. He’s able to bring so much depth to the character and everything means something to him. He doesn’t let anything slip by. He gives 100 per cent every single day. He’s incredibly prepared and meticulous and yet really brave, all at the same time.”

2. ANDREW LOVES “PLAYING” WITH EMMA

“She’s obviously one of the great talents in the world,” said Garfield. “She’s incredibly vibrant and clearly meant to do what she does, and it’s a pure joy to be able to play with her, because it really is ‘play’ with her. They call them ‘plays’ for a reason.”

3. SPIDER-MAN CO-CREATOR STAN LEE WAS ON THE SET BUT KEPT MUM

Said Garfield: “No, he didn’t give me any suggestions regarding my performance, but I wish he had! He’s super hands-off. He basically said, ‘Do whatever you want with it. It’s yours. I wrote it 50-odd years ago.’ He has an amazing sense of humour about it all.”

4. ANDREW’S FAVOURITE DAY ON THE SET HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE

“There was a great moment in between takes,” he said. “I just went and played some basketball with some kids in my Spider-Man costume. I had half an hour, so there were these kids playing pick-up basketball on the blacktop, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just go and see how they react.’”

5. ANDREW DID END UP GETTING INTO A REALLY INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP — WITH HIS TRAINER

“My trainer Armando is one of my favourite people in the world and he’s a very gentle, powerful taskmaster and passionate, health and fitness person,” Garfield said. “So the regimen was pretty intense, it would have to be, because I’ve got to be in my suit and I’ve got to wear the Spandex, and I’ve got to be practically naked. So I’m very thankful to have Armando, because I couldn’t do it with anyone else. He’s family now. He’s seen me at my lowest, literally.”

6. FILMING IN LYCRA IS A STRUGGLE FOR NON-GYM GUYS

“How does one prepare to be filmed wearing Lycra?” laughed Garfield. “A lot of bland food and existential dilemmas. With weights in my hands. It was a very confusing time. You have to look a certain way and you have to feel a certain way. You have to have a body that looks like it’s super-human. I like surfing and playing basketball, but I don’t like lifting weights. It puts me in an existential funk. It’s like the Camus book, the fable of Sisyphus where he’s pushing the boulder up the mountain and it keeps on rolling back down.”

7. ANDREW IS JUST AMAZING ... TO EMMA

“The cool thing about Andrew is that he prepares like nobody I know,” shared Stone. “He prepares so much for the character. And then he’s able to drop it all and become so incredibly present in the moment.”

8. SPIDER-MAN AND BUGS BUNNY ARE ONE AND THE SAME. NO, SERIOUSLY

Said Garfield: “I just love Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and I admire that (physically comedic) skill. Spider-Man has that physical foolishness and fun. He’s Bugs Bunny in that way. As you know, in every single Shakespeare play, you have the fool, you have the jester. It’s a beautiful, amazing archetype. It can be incredibly dark, like Pan, or it can be more like Bill Murray, who is also a trickster. Bugs Bunny is one of the ultimate tricksters.”

9. EMMA’S FIRST HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH WAS ... HERSELF

“I was home-schooled. So my first crush was — me!” she laughed. “I am just kidding! Though it’s amazing to re-live your first love. That (first) free-for-all brand new love is really exciting. It was so nice to experience it again. And I think that was also a huge draw (for me) to want to play Gwen.”

10. ANDREW GARFIELD AND PETER PARKER THE SAME PERSON

“I probably make it more challenging for myself than it needs to be, but I found it all very challenging, but in a good way, because it creates energy, being challenged and butting up against something,” said Garfield. “Friction creates fire and it creates a spark and it creates smoke, and it creates energy. It’s the same with Peter. He is always banging his head against a brick wall or trying to break through it, and then another brick wall after that. So I found every day challenging in certain ways.”

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens in cinemas tomorrow.

Check out the video interviews with the Spider-Man cast at Rated G (http://tdy.sg/blogratedg).