Andrew Garfield has seen all the memes of the carousel horse in We Live in Time, and he’s here for them.
The Oscar-nominated actor stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert ahead of the film’s release in theaters. During Garfield’s appearance on Wednesday, the host asked about the “demon carousel horse” featured in a promo photo of Garfield and his co-star, Florence Pugh, which went viral when it was released.
Garfield explained he saw the promo photo as he was “doom scrolling” right before going to a six-day retreat in Northern California, during which he would not have his phone.
“I see this image, and I think, ‘Maybe I’m the only one that will notice this insane horse,’” he told Colbert. “‘It feels like we’re in his poster, in a way. No, I’m probably being overly sensitive. No one else will see it.’”
When the Tick, Tick … Boom! star finished his retreat and turned his phone back on, he said the first thing he saw was Colbert talking in his monologue about the horse. “I see all the memes, which are just, I was crying with laughter in the departure lounge,” he said. “So I guess other people noticed it.”
Before giving Colbert a shirt with a picture of the horse on it, Garfield joked he was going to make a three-part documentary series “to get to the bottom of like, where the oversight fell apart and why this horse has taken on a life of its own.”
We Live in Time follows Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) as they’re brought together by a surprise encounter that changes their lives. “As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of their unconventional love story,” the logline reads.
Apropos to the film’s love story, Colbert took the opportunity to ask Garfield about the first time he felt a brush with love. The Spider-Man: No Way Home actor recalled meeting a girl named Sarah at the bus stop when he was barely a teenager.
“She was singing the Spice Girls song, “If you wanna be my lover.” I was 4-foot-1. She was about 5-foot-11. Beautiful blonde, just porcelain skin, just gorgeous. And she was singing that song, she said, ‘Would you like to be my lover?’” he recounted. “I’m 13 and prepubescent, and I say, ‘Yes, I would love that.’ And she says, ‘I’m having a little gathering tonight at my house if you’d like to come.’ And I felt like the Fonzarelli from Happy Days.”
The relationship didn’t last long, though, Garfield admitted. He went over to her house, and as soon as he got there, the phone rang. When Sarah came back, she whispered to one of her friends, who approached him.
“She says, ‘Hey, Sarah’s breaking up with you because some stud from the neighboring high school just called and said, ‘Hey, do you want to be my lover?’ and I was obsessed for three years, and I’m OK now,” he joked while exaggeratedly trembling.
We Live in Time hits theaters Oct. 18.