Andrew Garfield Was 'Shy' MeetingWe Live In TimeCostar Florence Pugh. Then She ‘Took the Piss Out of Me’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield on Sept. 9.Photo:Marleen Moise/Getty

Marleen Moise/Getty

The chemistry thatAndrew GarfieldandFlorence Pughshare in their new movie took some time to build.

Two time Oscar nominee Garfield, 41, tells PEOPLE he was initially reserved around hisWe Live in Timecostar Pugh, 28.

“I was really scared. I think we were both really scared and nervous because it takes a while to get to know someone,” says Garfield. “There’s layers there. There’s defenses there. I am someone, who on first meeting someone, I can be quite shy and quite protective and it takes me a while to really let someone know me. But then, when they’re in, there’s no getting out.”

Count Pugh among those lucky few. “I could see quickly that I could trust her, that she wanted to have fun, that she wanted to play,” Garfield says of theOppenheimeractress. “And that is like catnip to me. Someone who wants to just piss around and she started taking the piss out of me. I really enjoyed that. I took the piss out of her and she really enjoyed that.”

Grace Delaney, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in ‘We Live in Time.'.Peter Mountain/A24

Peter Mountain/A24

When the actors presented the awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2023 Oscars, Garfield says Pugh teased him right before they walked out on stage in front the other A-listers in the audience — and the millions watching at home.

“We just have very, very different styles of approaching something like that,” says Garfield. “I like knowing the structure of a thing and then letting go in the moment.”

“And she was much more just in the flow of it. And I was trying to make sure I was breathing deeply beforehand, because I can get quite nervous and overwhelmed at those things. And I wanted to make sure I knew the route and I wanted to make sure I knew who was standing where,” continues Garfield.

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield at the 2023 Oscars.ABC/Getty

“She was just trying to distract me, basically, while it was happening. And then, she was very, very respectful of us being different creatures,” he says. “But it was lovely.”

Pughpreviously said onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonthat when Oscar producers paired her with Garfield, they were unaware the two were about to filmWe Live in Time.

“You know what’s crazy is that we — they didn’t know we were doing a movie together,” Pugh, 27, said later that month. “Well I don’t think they did. But this was — I think, a bit of an accident. Which is even weirder!”

Director John Crowleyrecently told PEOPLE he saw the stars’ chemistry spark early on. “They didn’t know each other, they’re quite different kinds of actors, but on day two of rehearsals, I began to see flashes of lightning in a bottle, as it were, and it began to get very exciting,” he said.

“And I think what it was was that they would just fall into each other’s presence,” Crowley added. “That sounds mystical, but actually it was about the level of connection between the two of them.”

We Live in TImeis in select theaters now before expanding on Friday, Oct 18.

source: people.com