Andrew Garfield shares how ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ helped him cope with loss

Andrew Garfield opened up on Monday about how filming Netflix’s “Tick, Tick… Boom!” helped him cope with the loss of his mother, Lynn, who died from pancreatic cancer.

In an interview on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Garfield said that playing Jonathan Larson, the “Rent” lyricist and composer who died at age 35, allowed him to help process his own grief.

“I was able to step into this in a way where I could honor this incredible life of Jonathan Larson,” he said tearfully. “I got to sing Jonathan Larson’s unfinished song while simultaneously singing for my mother and her unfinished song.”

He added: “I’m indebted to John, and I’m indebted to Lin-Manuel Miranda, I’m indebted to everyone who’s brought me to this place so I can honor the most beautiful person that I’ve ever experienced in my life through my art and use it as a way to heal — use it as a way to sew up the wounds.”

Garfield explained that the film reminded him of “this ticking clock that we all have.”

“We all know somewhere deep down that life is sacred, life is short, and we better just be here as much as possible with each other holding on to each other,” he added.

The former “Spider-Man” star previously opened up about his mother’s death in a September interview with Variety.

In his interview, Garfield revealed he learned of Lynn’s cancer diagnosis before he accepted his role in the 2021 biopic, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

While filming the movie in late 2019, he said he went back home in England to be by her side.

“The good news about me and her is that we left nothing unsaid,” Garfield said at the time. “We had all the quality time we could possibly have while she was here. And those last two weeks I got to be with her were probably the most profound two weeks of my life.

“To be with her and my dad and my brother, all of her friends, my nephews. It was full of grace in the midst of the terrible tragedy.”

“Tick, Tick… Boom!” follows the story of Larson’s life in New York City and the challenges he faced to become a musical theater writer in the 1990s. The movie, directed by Miranda, was released on Nov. 12.