Tobey Maguire Speaking

Three Cheers!

Get ready folks! Here comes Spidey again! As Spider-Man 3 hits the theatres this weekend, Tobey Maguire, who plays Peter Parker and his alter-ego the web-crawling superhero talks about what’s in store for Spider-Man this time, the filming of the movie and life being playing a superhero

As Spider-Man 2 ends, life’s good for Peter Parker. So what’s happening this time?
He’s got his girl Mary Jane, he’s handling school, work, Aunt May, everything perfectly. Even his superhero duties and public relations are good. People adore him. It’s when things begin to go over his head. He develops an arrogance and he starts to get a little too cocky and gets himself into a little bit of trouble. Then he learns something about Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) and he starts to feel anger and the desire for revenge.

There has always been a strong link between Peter Parker and his enemies. What is the relationship this time with Venom and Sandman?
It’s a little different but he’s still connected to them in terms of the story. But it’s not the same this time. This time they are not a father figure or a mentor; it’s a different angle.

So Peter doesn’t need a role model anymore?
Well, for that he’s got Aunt May. I wouldn’t call her a role model but she is the person he talks to for guidance and wisdom. So she is always there and Uncle Ben is always there in his heart.

Spider-Man films are full of special effects, so during production you work quite extensively with blue screens. Is it strange when you finally see yourself in the finished film?
It’s great. It’s kind of cool because I’m approaching it from inside of it trying to live the experience. I’m aware of what we are going for all the time. I’ll watch the animatics and look at the storyboards so I have a sense of it, but of course it’s always different when you see the final cut with the animation and the music.

Has your working relation with director Sam Raimi changed over the years?
He’s pretty inclusive of me in the process. I’m curious and anxious to see things but only where I can be useful in lending an idea. Sam gathers everybody’s thoughts and ideas and considers them and tries to make his own best choices.

Throughout your career, you have portrayed a variety of roles in various time periods. Does this affect your own personality?
Definitely. You dig into people. You research the time period; what is happening socially and politically. I have to investigate the mood and climate; who is this person and how would he be reacting to the world and how the world would be reacting to him. You are learning history and maybe it is opening your eyes. You learn about your own true direction or you learn about forgiveness, which is one of the themes in this movie. Whatever it is you spend a lot of time thinking about it, talking about it, digging into it so it’s definitely there for you to experience. There’s just something about acting that is really fun and cool. When you are doing scenes and working with people who are really good; it’s great. It can move you.

You have a baby daughter. Do you think one you will be able to sit her down and say ‘look at these films, Daddy was Spider-Man!’
(Laughs) Won’t that be cool. But it will be a while yet, she’s only a baby.