Tobey Maguire Interview by Tim Nasson for Spiderman 3
Tobey Maguire initially worked as a child actor, beginning in his early teens. Tobey Maguire appeared in a variety of commercials and TV and movie roles. One of his first roles was an extra in the 1989 movie The Wizard. Tobey Maguire auditioned for a part in the series Parenthood, where he met best friend, actor Leonardo DiCaprio. (DiCaprio got the part, although Maguire would appear as a guest star in later episodes). He then had a small role in This Boy’s Life, which had DiCaprio in the main role. Tobey Maguire gained attention with his role in the 1997 film The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee. This soon was parlayed in a variety of lead roles where he played a thoughtful boy coming of age, in films such as Pleasantville, The Cider House Rules and Wonder Boys. In addition to acting, Tobey Maguire has also served as producer for several films, including 25th Hour (2002), Whatever We Do (2003), and Seabiscuit (2003), for which he served as executive producer.
In 2002, Maguire shot to superstardom when he was cast in the title role in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, based on the popular Marvel comic book series. He reprised the part in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3, which is slated to be released May 2007. Although Maguire has not signed on for another sequel, the actor has denied reports that he will not return, stating, “I feel like the stories all deserve to be told, and, you know, if… the whole team wants to get back together, and we feel like we can make a good movie that’s worth making, then I’m up for it.”
Maguire solidified his stardom in 2003 with a leading role as the jockey John M. “Red” Pollard in the acclaimed film Seabiscuit, about the famous United States’ racehorse Seabiscuit. In 2006, Maguire starred in his first villainous role as Corporal Patrick Tully in Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German based on the Joseph Kanon novel of the same name opposite George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.
Maguire has been engaged to jewelry maker Jennifer Meyer, daughter of Universal Studios executive Ron Meyer, since April 2006; the pair first began dating in 2003. They have a daughter named Ruby Sweetheart Maguire (born November 10, 2006). Ruby’s middle name comes from a childhood nickname of Meyer’s given to her by her grandmother, who died a few months before Ruby’s birth. In 2004, Maguire took up tournament poker. He has finished in the money in several events and has been tutored by poker professional Daniel Negreanu. Maguire can be seen on ESPN’s coverage of the 2005 and 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship.
In Los Angeles, this past weekend, Wild About Movies caught up with “Spiderman,” “Tobey Maguire.”
Wild About Movies: What was it like coming back for the third time?
“Tobey Maguire”: I had a good time on the movie. I love it. I love working with the cast and the crew and especially with Sam so it was great coming back and I really felt like in this movie it was definitely the continuing story of Peter Parker and the other characters, but we were exploring new territory for the character, so it was exciting for me to venture into some different areas.
Wild About Movies: Is it like a whole new character, since you’re playing the dark side?
“Tobey Maguire”: It’s not a new character. It’s a new side to Peter Parker and something I think is kind of unexpected to see — Peter Parker behave in some of the ways he behaves. It was a lot of fun and it was a lot of work for Sam and I to go over it and really think about and discuss the right tone for that part of the movie.
Wild About Movies: Did you work with a choreographer or a dance instructor?
“Tobey Maguire”: Yeah, I worked with some people — a choreographer and some other people, a couple of dance people. And the inside part was pretty much all choreographed and then the outside, the basic idea of it was choreographed, and then we kind of riffed on it and had fun from there.
Wild About Movies: Was that the toughest thing you did on this movie? Did somebody say, ‘Tobey, you have no rhythm’ or ‘You’re a great dancer’ or…?
“Tobey Maguire”: Well, first of all that was Peter Parker dancing, not Tobey. And you know it really is a thing where Peter thinks he’s super cool and suave, and really he’s a cornball. You know? So we were making fun of that and having fun and our aim was for people to be laughing, so I had that in mind while I was dancing.
Wild About Movies: Did you ever see ‘Superman III’ which has those great moments when he turns bad?
“Tobey Maguire”: I haven’t seen that in a long time. I did watch ‘Superman 1’ and ‘2’ more recently, but I didn’t remember loving ‘3’ so much. I’m not saying I didn’t like it, but I didn’t have any desire to go back and watch it.
Wild About Movies: Now the big question is, since it’s been announced they’re going to do 4, 5, and 6 at some point, would you come back for Spider-Man 4? Would you want to?
“Tobey Maguire”: Well, if there was a great story there and there was something interesting for Peter Parker to do like a storyline that I loved for Peter Parker and Sam was involved and the right cast was in place, at that point I would consider it.
Wild About Movies: So, if Sam didn’t come back, you wouldn’t consider coming back?
“Tobey Maguire”: No.
Wild About Movies: Those comments that appeared in the news that said you wanted this to be your last one, where did those come from?
“Tobey Maguire”: I’m not sure. That’s not what I’m saying now. No, you know, I think early on through one and two, I always imagined this as like three and out. You know what I mean? Like I would do three films and that would be enough for those. I’m not saying I will do a fourth one at all. I’m saying I’m not really committed either way. We’ll see what happens.
Wild About Movies: Where do you see your career going now?
“Tobey Maguire”: You know, I just hope to have opportunities to make good movies with good filmmakers. I don’t really have a specific path or direction I want to go on or even the types or roles or movies that I want to do. I want to do everything with great people.
Wild About Movies: As just an actor or as a producer or…?
“Tobey Maguire”: Yeah, all of it. Whatever.
Wild About Movies: Do you have any concern about being haunted by this persona?
“Tobey Maguire”: I’m not really concerned about it as long as I have opportunities to make other types of movies. Certainly I’m identified with this film or with this character and I don’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon. I’m not fighting that or resisting it. As long as I get to make some other movies, I’m fine with that.
Wild About Movies: You and Kirsten have a great emotional arc in this film, and as a movie couple, you’ve grown a lot. Did it just flow really easily this time or was it a little bit harder?
“Tobey Maguire”: No, it flowed pretty easily for me, just the whole movie in general. I had a good time and I felt really at ease during the whole shooting process. And working with Kirsten is great. I love what she brings to the role and to the movie. So it was a lot of fun.
Wild About Movies: In Parade magazine you talked about your own childhood being troubled and forgiving your parents. Do you have any advice to kids today who might find themselves in a situation like that?
“Tobey Maguire”: You know it’s hard to say. I think each individual experience is so different. I do think it’s important to – I don’t know. It’s hard for me to say. I was fortunate enough to find different people along the way whether it was through movies or books or people that helped buoy me in times when things were a little bit down. I never wanted to be a victim or kind of wallow in the harder things. I always wanted to move forward. I was very ambitious. I felt like I had a pretty good imagination and vision for my life and I had people telling me, ‘You are driving the vehicle of your life here. You are the master of your own destiny in a sense. So do whatever you want to do.’
Wild About Movies: You got to work with Stan Lee in this film. What’s your take on him and him seeing this character he created 40 years ago become this huge movie property?
“Tobey Maguire”: I’m not sure what his perception is or what his experience is of that, as I’m not him and don’t embody him, but I think what he’s done is pretty amazing to me. He created all these characters that are — not just Spider-Man, but lots of characters — that are these huge, iconic characters and are really present in Hollywood movies now. It’s pretty interesting and he’s an icon himself like his characters.
Wild About Movies: If you didn’t do this anymore, would you miss the character and would it bother you to see another actor take over the role?
“Tobey Maguire”: Well, I would definitely – I love working with all the people, as I said, like Sam, the cast and all that, so I would hope to work with them whether it was this or not. I’m sure at some point I’ll have reminiscent, sentimental kind of feelings about my experiences on the film. I already do. I’ve had great times. But there’s no pain involved in that. It’s just kind of nice. In terms of another actor playing the part, I don’t take any issue with that.
Wild About Movies: This is such a thrilling character for people. What is something you do in real life that is thrilling?
“Tobey Maguire”: I don’t know. I like to be very active, so I do all kinds of stuff. I can’t say that there is anything that quite compares to swinging around like Spider-Man does. I like to ride bikes and run and scuba dive and do different kind of sports. I like to play basketball. Kind of normal human beings stuff.
Wild About Movies: So there’s not one particular adventure sports that you gravitate towards?
“Tobey Maguire”: I will do anything pretty much. I’ve never been like skydiving or bungee jumping. And I don’t really see the point for myself in bungee jumping, but I would consider skydiving, but now my fiancée is like ‘You are not sky diving.’ And it would be a shame if something happened and I missed my daughter’s life. That would be a drag.
Wild About Movies: Where did your creative input on ‘Spiderman 3’ begin? Was it early on or was it after they figured the story out?
“Tobey Maguire”: Well, Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi, I think, came up with the basic idea for the movie and it was kicked around awhile before I got involved, but I was involved fairly early on in terms of the screenplay. Sam was very open to me contributing all of my ideas both from the story standpoint, tonally, content of scenes, everything. He was very open and would listen and I think would use stuff when it was good and dismiss it when it wasn’t.
Wild About Movies: Can you go to a restaurant or the mall or anywhere without someone coming up to you and calling you Peter or Spidey or Tobey?
“Tobey Maguire”: If I went to a mall, I would definitely be recognized. If I went to an empty restaurant and sat in a certain way, I might not be recognized. Kind of what you’d probably imagine.
Wild About Movies: How do you respond to kids when they see you and think you really are Peter or Spiderman?
“Tobey Maguire”: First of all, I love kids and it’s a lot of fun interacting with kids, but it’s a little confusing sometimes because I want to take the lead from parents. Because sometimes parents will want to explain that I’m an actor and sort of the reality of the situation and other parents like to keep the illusion alive. So, that’s always a tricky spot, the younger they are especially. I did have a thing where at the time I thought the right thing to do was to explain. A kid asked me and I’m honest about it. They said, ‘Well, how do you do that?’ Well we take the building, the vertical building and we turn it on its back and I’m crawling across it, and the kid just was like really bummed out. I was just like shattering his whole thing and then I had to work to get back in there. But we ended up hugging and he was telling me he was going to miss me and it was really sweet. It ended up being a really sweet thing, but for a while I felt really bad about it.
Wild About Movies: Do you have a favorite of all three Spiderman films?
“Tobey Maguire”: Right now, I feel like this one is my favorite. I’m excited about it. It’s fresh. I feel like there are so many great things. It’s funnier, it explores new territory, it’s probably the most distinctly different of the three films. I thought ‘2’ was a really good movie. The story came together very well. In the first one, I loved the excitement of it and the origin story. So, right now, I would probably say this one is my favorite but that might change.
Wild About Movies: I don’t think I’ve ever heard you answer this question before: how do you feel about spiders?
“Tobey Maguire”: I’m fine with spiders. I respect their place in the world. I don’t kill spiders. If there is a spider in my house. A lot of times I would just let spiders – I saw a huge spider in my house last night and I just left it there. But, now again Jen, my fiancée, is telling me I’ve got to get them outside because of the baby. So, you know, I’ve got to escort the spiders outside now.
