Andrew Garfield has spoken candidly about missing his late mother following her death five years ago, while also admitting that his grief helps him to feel close to her.
The Spider-Man actor, 41, tragically lost his mom Lynn to pancreatic cancer in 2019 during his filming of The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
In an emotional heart-to-heart with Sesame Street’s Elmo, Andrew said that his sadness about her loss is a ‘gift’ as it reminds him of all their treasured moments together.
‘I’m just thinking about my mom today,’ he said at the start of their conversation. ‘She passed away not too long ago, and I just miss her a lot.’
‘Elmo always feels really bad when he misses somebody,’ Elmo said.
Andrew Garfield has spoken candidly about missing his late mother
The Spider-Man actor, 41, tragically lost his mom Lynn to pancreatic cancer in 2019
‘Me too,’ Andrew agreed, before adding: ‘But that sadness is kind of a gift.
‘It’s kind of a lovely thing to feel in a way because it means you really loved somebody when you miss them.
‘When I miss my mom, I remember all the cuddles I used to get from her, all the hugs I used to get form her, and it makes me feel close to her when I miss her, in a strange way.’
He continued: ‘I’m happy to have all the memories of my mom and the joy she brought me and the joy she brought my brother and my dad, and everyone she ever met, everyone that was around her.
‘When I miss her, I remember it’s because she made me so happy. So, I can celebrate her and I can miss her at the same time.’
Fans confessed they were left in floods of tears after watching Andrew and Elmo’s heart wrenching conversation.
Taking to X, one said: ‘People don’t talk about the reality of grief enough and I’m glad there’s kids out there who can see this and start to develop a healthy relationship with grief and sadness and mourning.’
Another wrote: ‘Just let out a teeny tiny sob on the metro so thank you for that Elmo.’
A third added: ‘Didn’t expect to cry today.’
Andrew spoke about his grief with Elmo, stressing that it’s okay to feel sad
Andrew with his parents Lynn and Richard at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2006
‘Very relatable with missing my dad,’ said a fourth. ‘Memories of him pop in daily and make me wish I had 60 more seconds to let him know how I am doing or let him see his granddaughter for the first time.’
A fifth penned: ‘Not me crying at this Elmo video.’
Andrew was born to parents Lynn and Richard Garfield in 1983.
Together, they ran a small interior-design business with Lynn also working as a teaching assistant at a nursery school.
In an interview with Channel 4 in 2022, Andrew revealed the death of his mother left him with a ‘precise agony’ and told how he was unable to do ‘anything’ for a period of time.
He explained: ‘It is very, very difficult, I think with a loss like that the world gets rearranged and I say that knowing I am not unique in that experience.
‘It’s so strange because it feels very unique when it is happening, if feels like oh my god I’m the only person that’s ever lost their mother, because it does feel so lonely and precise.
‘It feels just like a precise agony and for a period of time I didn’t want to, and I wasn’t able to, do anything.
‘I was kind of wasted and the world didn’t make sense, and it still doesn’t, because I miss her greatly, and I hope it never makes sense because I always want to miss her.’
It’s been a busy week for Andrew, who has been promoting his upcoming film, We Live In Time, in which he stars alongside Florence Pugh.
Besides dropping by to speak to Elmo, the recently single star also appeared on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date, much to the delight of fans across the globe who have been hoping for a romance.
