Multi-awarded actor Andrew Garfield revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair last week that he would have taken theological studies had he not become an actor.
The Christian Post reported that the internationally acclaimed Andrew Garfield was interviewed in line with his upcoming true-crime series, "Under The Banner of Heaven." The series is Dustin Lance Black's adaptation of Jon Krakauer's 2003 bestselling novel of the same title. The series, produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, premieres on Hulu this Thursday, April 28.
"Questions of faith and spirituality, and the mystery of a spiritual life, is what I'm drawn to the most," Garfield said.
"If I wasn't an actor, I think I'd be doing some kind of theological study, and Dustin's adaptation is that. He presents a study and a set of circumstances and unpicks the notion of fundamentalism and extremism, and how it undermines the virtues and the goodness that can come from having faith," he added.
The actor highlighted that Black's adaptation was fascinating since it went beyond being moralistic and simply laid the truth without having to please or appease its viewers.
"Under The Banner Of Heaven" narrates the true story of a Mormon detective who struggled with his faith as he solves the murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her 15-month-old baby in 1984. The murders took place in Salt Valley Lake, Utah. The detective eventually uncovers that the death of Lafferty and her child involved Mormon fundamentalists who belonged to a prominent family.
The 38-year-old Garfield disclosed during the interview that the series is the darkest and heaviest film he has ever done. Garfield, who became renowned for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," has been cast in other roles in true stories. These were in "Silence," "Hacksaw Ridge," "Angels In America," and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," where he played the role of televangelist Jim Bakker. He recently received an Oscar nomination for "Tick, Tick...Boom!"
According to Garfield, he read the book a decade ago and its story has stuck with him ever since. The British actor shared that the novel troubled him for it made him question how good men ended up doing evil things in God's name. He raised that this is a vital question that everyone needs to get to the bottom of so that the tragic incident won't happen again or, at least, with lesser frequency.
Prior to being cast in such roles, Garfield admitted he was confused about his religious views. He said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2016 that he is not a Christian person. Rather, he considered himself mostly confused since he is a little bit Jewish, sometimes atheist, but most often agnostic and pantheist.
It was a year later when he said in an interview with America Magazine that he has fallen in love with Jesus Christ through the film "Silence" where he played the role of the Jesuit priest, Fr. Sebastiao Rodrigues.
"What was really easy was falling in love with this person, was falling in love with Jesus Christ, that was the most surprising thing. That was the most remarkable thing-falling in love, and how easy it was to fall in love with Jesus," Garfield shared.
