Andrew Garfield spoke to Elmo about his late mother Lynn Garfield and the “joy” she brought to loved ones in her lifetime in a viral, heartfelt clip shared by the “Sesame Street” character on Friday.
The actor opened up about remembering his mom, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2019, after the Muppet offered to “check in” with him.
“You know, Elmo always feels really sad when he misses somebody,” Elmo said.
“Oh yeah, me too, me too. But you know that sadness, it’s kind of a gift, it’s kind of a lovely thing to feel in a way because it means that you really loved somebody when you miss them,” Andrew Garfield replied.
He then reflected on “all of the cuddles” and hugs he used to get from his mom, adding that the memories make him feel “close to her … in a strange way.”
“So 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 around her,” the actor said.
He continued, “So when I miss her, I remember, I remember it’s because she made me so happy so I can celebrate her and I can miss her at the same time.”
You can catch more of the clip below.
Andrew Garfield has previously opened up about his mom, telling Stephen Colbert in 2021 that he was “singing for my mother and her unfinished song” while performing an unfinished song by Jonathan Larson in “tick, tick… Boom!”
“I’m indebted to everyone whose brought me to this place so that I can honor the most beautiful person I’ve ever experienced in my life through my art and use it as a way to heal,” said the actor as he fought back tears.
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″[So I can] use it as a way to sew up the wounds because that’s what we do, right? That’s what we do, that’s what you [Colbert] do every night, you sew up our wounds, you sew up our wounds.”
He recently revealed that his latest film “We Live in Time” — which sees his character, Tobias Durand, navigating a relationship with Almut Brühl (Florence Pugh) after she learns she has ovarian cancer — felt a bit like a “healing” experience.
“Every species of every living thing on this earth has lost a mother. Young dinosaurs were losing their mothers,” he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“So in terms of my own personal experience, yeah, it felt like a very simple act of healing for myself, and hopefully healing for an audience.”