Andrew Garfield reveals ‘brutal’ school dinner ordeal made him vomit on teacher
The Spider-Man actor says childhood lunchtime experiences left him with a lasting aversion to loose sweetcorn and regularly sent him hiding in the toilets.
Andrew Garfield once vomited on a teacher after being force-fed his school dinner and would hide in the toilets to escape the “brutal” meals.
The 43-year-old actor recalled the childhood experience during an appearance on the Dish podcast with broadcaster Nick Grimshaw, 42, and chef Angela Hartnett, 58, released on Wednesday (07.10.26.)
Andrew said the experience left him unable to eat loose sweetcorn, despite corn on the cob remaining one of his favourite foods.
He added: “School dinners have f***** everyone up to a certain degree I think. Yeah... .
“So, I can’t have corn off the cob. On the cob is one thing. On the cob is actually one of my favourite things. With a lot of butter. Off the cob, I can’t do it.”
Explaining where his aversion came from, the actor said: “It’s a pure, like visceral association with I think... like I vomited on a teacher. Who force-fed me some of these things one day at school. I would hide in the toilet to not have to eat my primary school lunches. It was brutal.”
Andrew added: “It’s like a version of waterboarding but with like mashed potato and loose sweetcorn.”
The revelation prompted laughter from Nick and Angela during the podcast, which sees celebrity guests join the pair for dinner and conversation.
Andrew was served a smash cheeseburger with burger sauce during his appearance and also discussed his latest film, The Uprising, directed by Paul Greengrass, 71, and set during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.
The appearance comes during a busy period for Andrew, who is also attracting awards attention for his portrayal of OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, 41, in Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial.
The black comedy had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival this week and dramatises the rise of OpenAI, including the dramatic events of November 2023 when Sam was removed as chief executive before returning to the company five days later.
Neon is campaigning for Andrew in the supporting actor category during the coming awards season, while Yura Borisov, 33, who portrays OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, 40, is being positioned in the lead actor race.
Mark Rylance, 66, who plays AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, 78, is also being campaigned in supporting actor.
The film, written by Simon Rich, 42, also stars Monica Barbaro, 36, as Mira Murati, 37, and Ike Barinholtz, 49, as Elon Musk, 55, with music by Damon Albarn, 58.
Andrew spent months studying Sam while preparing for the role.
He told Variety: “I wish we could give it even more teeth in a way. We need to shine the light as bright as possible at the nooks and crannies of people we’re giving all of our autonomy and power to.”
Andrew said he had spent “two to three months” listening to and watching footage of Sam, while increasing reports about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence also informed his approach to the performance.
Artificial has attracted considerable attention since its New York premiere, with several critics comparing the film to The Social Network, the 2010 David Fincher, 64, drama in which Andrew played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, 44.
The role became one of Andrew’s early Hollywood breakthroughs before he achieved worldwide fame playing Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
He later reprised the superhero alongside Tom Holland, 30, and Tobey Maguire, 51, in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Andrew has previously received two best actor Academy Award nominations – for playing Desmond Doss in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge and composer Jonathan Larson in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick… Boom!.
His performance in Artificial has now placed him back in the awards conversation, with early reviews singling out his transformation into Sam.
The film is scheduled to open in selected US cinemas on Christmas Day before expanding more widely in January.
