The year 2021 reminded everyone of the emotional impact Andrew Garfield is capable of inflicting upon any project he takes part in. Shortly before his surprise return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Garfield demonstrated a different set of skills in the Netflix production, Tick, Tick...Boom!, which has been performed in various theatres around the world as early as the 90s.
Lin-Manuel Miranda directed the Netflix production of Tick, Tick...Boom!, a semi-auto-biographic tale of Jonathan Larson. Larson is perhaps most commonly known for the hit Broadway musical, Rent, which has earned a Pulitzer Prize, a Drama Desk Award, and numerous Tony Awards. Larson himself performed Tick, Tick...Boom! prior to his death in 1996 as a solo piece. It was reconstructed by David Auburn thereafter, making Tick, Tick...Boom! into a three-actor show. Auburn's adaptation has been performed Off-Broadway dating back to 2001.
In the Netflix production of Tick, Tick...Boom!, Garfield plays Larson. The narrative follows Larson across the start of his struggling career as an aspiring musical composer in SoHo, New York. Tick, Tick...Boom! begins shortly before Larson's 30 birthday where he is haunted by what little success he has to show for years of hard work. The story alters between Larson's performance of Tick, Tick...Boom! at a New York Theatre Workshop in 1992 and the events highlighted within Tick, Tick...Boom! as pivotal moments of Larson's life in 1990. Garfield portrays Larson through the entirety of the film and demonstrates the musical capabilities that very few fans of Garfield's Spider-Man would've known him to have.
In 2012, Garfield made his Broadway debut as Biff Loman in the production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Shortly after the conclusion of his 2018 tour as Prior Walter in Angels in America, he signed on to work with Miranda and Tick, Tick...Boom! In the musical, Garfield lends his voice to over half of Tick, Tick...Boom!'s musical numbers, including the emotional "Why" number performed after he learns his best friend is HIV-Positive. This revelation in Tick, Tick...Boom!, various posters for HIV awareness, as well as another one of Larson's friends who is shown to deal with his own diagnosis throughout the film, lends itself to the end result of Rent, which deals with HIV.
Larson's story is filled with ups and downs, as are the characters around him. Michael and Susan are the main supporting characters in Tick, Tick...Boom!, though there are others. Michael and Susan are both based on real people from Larson's life. Susan is played by Alexandra Shipp in Tick, Tick...Boom! and is inspired by Janet Charleston, Larson's partner. Michael is based on Larson's real-life friend, Matt O'Grady, who is played by Robin de Jesús in Tick, Tick...Boom! Other actors that appear in the Netflix film include Joshua Henry, Vanessa Hudgens, and Bradley Whitford. Whitford portrays renowned musical composer Stephen Sondheim, who mentored Larson throughout his career. Bits of this relationship is shown throughout Tick, Tick...Boom!, though nowhere near the capacity that was said to be the true nature of their relationship.
As the lead, Garfield does have to dig deep to portray the emotional journey of Larson. He struggles with making difficult life-altering decisions of whether to abandon the dream he has worked toward as a musical composer or to submit his talents to the grip of a stuffy corporate job with little to no creative escape. On top of this, he must also navigate how he will incorporate Susan and her dreams as a dancer and instructor into his vision. While these life-changing issues lend themselves well to a narrative plot, the truth that lies within them is a factual reality that many creatives experience. Garfield manages to find the thin line between portraying Larson's own dilemmas while remaining ambiguous enough for other creatives to put themselves in the shoes of this semi-auto-biographical character.
Even though Tick, Tick...Boom! was released on Netflix in late November, the powerful performance given by Garfield and the cast has not gone unnoticed. It was one of the American Film Institute's Top 10 Movies of the Year and has been nominated for 2 Critics' Choice Movie Awards, countless Satellite and Hollywood Critics Association Awards, among many others. At the 2022 Golden Globe Awards, Tick, Tick...Boom! received a nomination for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, but lost the award to Steven Spielberg's West Side Story. Garfield himself did take home the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Tick, Tick...Boom!
Those unfamiliar with Garfield's theatre history will find themselves the most floored by his performance in Tick, Tick...Boom! However, even those that are largely familiar with Garfield only through his role of Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man series can find elements of his theatrical presence within those films. Garfield's body language is a huge piece of his performance as Spider-Man and Peter Parker, using it to help portray the mood of the moment. This fact lent itself well to the reveal of Garfield in No Way Home, as some recognized Garifield's emotive body right off the bat. Given that the Golden Globes noticed the powerful performance Garfield delivered in Tick, Tick...Boom! and that the film has already begun to be recognized as one of the better films of 2021, the Academy Awards would make a mistake in not recognizing what the film and Garfield have delivered.
Tick, Tick...Boom! is now streaming on Netflix.
