2025 has brought plenty of its own exciting and viral moments to pop culture, including Andrew Garfield’s ‘sexy’ glasses bit at The Golden Globes. But for the actor, it was anything but what the internet perceived it to be. He reveals what was really going through his head in the lead up and during the misconstrued string of events. And it really is the complete opposite from how it was read on TV.
Ahead of his 2025 movie release, After the Hunt’s premiere, he chatted with MTV about the iconic GG presentation clip. Per a video on Instagram, Garfield shares the real story behind his accidental but wildly watchable movements while introducing Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy. As he prepared to rehash the full succession, ahead of the onstage antics, he added,“You can quote me on this,” before beginning:
I’ve never thought about how presenters must feel ahead of their timeslot in annual award shows, but I can only imagine many feel similar to Garfield. The amount of star power in the room, let alone maybe even at someone’s side can be unnerving enough. Just take the Spider-Man actor’s buzzy Goldie Hawn Oscars homage for example.
But, things really started going sideways for him as he and Washington walked to the designated spot in front of the microphone. After considering where to stop, sharing the space, whether people can hear them adequately, among other details, he realizes he needs glasses to read his part. Thankfully, he had them in tow, as he said:
I’m starting to feel the wave Garfield was riding in that ninety seconds or so. It’s one thing to be amped up ahead of the moment, but a full other when you stay in that type of energy. Which, again, is wildly understandable with how big of a night it was to celebrate even bigger celebs. (But it does make sense why Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro became couple goals over the summer in matching white Wimbledon outfits.)
Once he secured the glasses on his face, things didn’t improve all that much. He then realized not only was his shirt overly unbuttoned for his comfort, it wouldn’t stay put after attempting to adjust it properly. The failure, in turn elicited a facial expression and resulted in reminding himself to stay calm:
Yikes. What a series of unfortunate events, but at least none of it read that way to the unsuspecting viewer. It only elicited more love for one of the most recent internet movie star boyfriends. And maybe enticed the fans to imagine more hyper specific tech involved thirst tweets.
Finally, it was time for Garfield to jump in, and that part went off without a hitch. He thought his part in the evening was finished, only to find out later it was only the beginning, as he said:
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels absolutely thrilled to know what was going on for The Social Network actor then. It was all so unexpected but undeniably mesmerizing to watch. And though the evening was exciting and fun enough, Garfield and his glasses are by far one of the main takeaways from the event.