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 The
audience's love for live adaptations of classic comic superheroes
is really nothing new. Batman, Superman, the X-Men and even Blade have
all made the jump from glossy, colored pages to the big-screen
successfully, and there are live adaptations of The Hulk and Super Woman
currently being developed. It should be no surprise then that
Spider-Man, one of comic's most beloved superheroes, has finally swung
his way onto the big-screen as well. However, what could surprise fans
of the comic is the casting of The Cider House Rules star Tobey Maguire
as the man in red and blue. Until recently, Maguire, who's been acting
since the late '80s, has remained relatively nameless in Hollywood. Even
though the young actor was cast in the cult hit Empire Records— a film
recognized for launching the careers of numerous young actors like Ethan
Embry, Renee Zellweger, Robin Tunney and Liv Tyler— his character Andre
ended up on the cutting room floor. In fact, it wasn't until his role in
1998's Pleasantville that the young star became a face teenage girls
everywhere drooled over and, consequently, his name finally registered
on the Hollywood map.
After spending years of appearing in various films and sitcoms
[amongst them Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Roseanne and Blossom],
Maguire had finally become a leading man. His performances in The Cider
House Rules and Wonder Boys received critical acclaim, with the latter
performance earning Maguire the Best Supporting Actor award at the
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. Though Maguire may have not
received anything other than a shared nomination with the cast of The
Cider House Rules at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, his performance
caught the eye of director Sam Raimi's wife and eventually led to the
role he will forever be remembered for— Spider-Man.
"I had been interviewing a lot of different actors for the role
of Peter Parker," Raimi recalls. "All the kids in America grew up
reading Spider-Man so a lot of the young kids were interested— all the
young actors you could think of. My wife saw The Cider House Rules
though and said, 'you've got to see this guy, Tobey— he's brilliant.' So
I saw it and I thought he was brilliant— very real, very powerful in
that performance. I thought, 'this guy is just great' and it looked like
he could play 17-years-old, which that in itself— that first criteria—
limits the available actors we are all aware of down to 5% of what you
might think. So I met with Tobey and he seemed very personable,
intelligent and had charisma, and we could communicate very well. I
really liked him and he had a sense of humor, which told me that we
could work together."
With his only experience being a superhero coming from voicing
the role of Lou in last summer's Cats and Dogs, Maguire knew that by
accepting the role of Peter Parker he was opening himself up to public
criticism— especially since he had never even read a Spider-Man comic
before. Although he says he wasn't too worried about playing such a
highly-anticipated role, upon agreeing to do the movie Maguire admits
that he sat down and read the first four years of Spider-Man comics in
order to mentally understand the character. Additionally, Maguire worked
to get himself in shape so that he could not only be prepared physically
for the obstacles his character would encounter, but also so that he
would look the part. "For five months, six days a week, anywhere from an
hour and a half to four hours a day, I was doing a combination of
gymnastics, yoga, martial arts, weight training and high end cardio—
like cycling and running," Maguire says. "I also had a very specific
diet and worked with a nutritionist to prepare for my wirework and
working with the stunt man who was assigned to study the Spidey poses."
While Maguire may have not been prepared at first to take on the
challenges that come with being one of Marvel Comics' most beloved
superheroes, he didn't have to worry too much about studying the
character of Peter Parker. Maguire admits that, like Peter, he was a bit
of an outsider himself in high school. And, although he cheated his way
through the 10th grade ["I was in home study," he says, "and it was the
kind of home study where they send you all of the answers to every one
of the questions, the tests, the whole deal. So I did my whole year in
two days. I just copied all of the answers."], up until the second half
of the seventh grade Maguire was an honor student. However, his own
personal similarities to the character of Peter Parker didn't make those
scenes any easier for the actor. In fact, it was the challenges he faced
when he wasn't wearing the suit that drew Maguire to the highly desired
role.
 "Honestly,
this is probably my most challenging role and I wouldn't have done
the film unless I felt there was something for me to do here as an
actor," Maguire says. "I think of it all as one character— Peter Parker.
Sure his alter ego is Spider-Man, but he's still Peter Parker in the
suit to me. To blueprint the entire role and have the action come out of
the characters, and then trying to base the characters in reality so the
action would come alive and people would be invested in the action as
much as they were in the character's lives prior to the action... it was
a challenge. Also, it was challenging to play a character that's wearing
a mask and still keep viewers with you even though they can't see any
expression. That's something Sam and I really talked about and worked on
as far as communicating everything through body language or saying
things without overdoing it to keep people inside the suit with Peter so
they could care and move along with the character."
Despite Maguire's impressive acting abilities, the fact remains
that Spider-Man fans will be drawn to the film for its CGI special
effects sequences— not its Oscar-caliber performances. Though Maguire
had some professional gymnasts working as his stunt doubles, there were
a few stunts that Raimi actually required Maguire to do himself. Maguire
admits to doing some flips and swings, but says that, "if it looks like
it's impossible for a human being to do then it's probably
computer-generated, and if it looks like it would take the skill level
of a gymnast then it's probably not me." However, there was one physical
skill Maguire mastered while working on the set that even his stunt
doubles couldn't assist him with— the ability to make-out with someone
in the rain while hanging upside down. "It's awful to kiss somebody
upside down, especially when they can't breathe and it's in the freezing
rain," says Kirsten Dunst, who plays Peter Parker's long-time love Mary
Jane. "And Tobey couldn't breathe through his mask— I'd roll it up to
right underneath his nose and he'd inhale and then make out with me.
He'd be breathing through the side of his mouth at the same time he was
kissing me. Plus he was just so out of it because he'd be hung upside
down and the blood was rushing to his head... and I was freezing my butt
off."
 Maguire,
however, remembers the scene a bit differently. "Sure I was hanging
upside down and there was rain pouring down my nose— or up my nose— and
it was hard to breathe, but it was well worth it," he says with a smile.
With the physical and mental challenges now out of the way, Maguire says
he is looking forward to reprising his role as Spider-Man in its
inevitable sequel. He even has his own ideas for which villains
Spider-Man should fight in the next film, though he's not talking since
he already has some knowledge of how his character is going to evolve.
However, Maguire hopes that he will be able to squeeze in another film
this summer before production begins on Spider-Man 2 so that audiences
don't simply associate him with Peter Parker. But even if he is only
remembered for this role for the rest of his life, Maguire says that
Peter Parker is not too bad of a role to be linked to forever. "I
definitely can identify with Peter and Spider-Man and the whole thing.
He's the kid who's not the most social kid, but when he gets in the suit
he feels a different sense of freedom. He can have his confidence and
his humor but then go back to being one of us and dealing with money
problems, girl problems... I think he's a great character." As for which
superhero power Maguire hopes will rub off on him before leaving the
Spidey suit behind forever, he's not really interested in any of the
special powers his character has. "I'd like flying," he says with a
laugh. "Flying would be fun. Spider-Man doesn't fly but that would be
fun so I'd take that." UB
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