Fans left stunned after finding out actor Andrew Garfield's real age: 'How the hell is he this old?'

Andrew Garfield became a household name after taking on the role of Peter Parker, from Tobey Maguire, opposite Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.

Despite getting cast to play the teenage web-slinging hero over a decade ago, social media users were taken aback to discover that the English actor was nearly two decades older than they assumed.

After learning of his real age, many fans expressed shock that the Golden Globe winner, known for his boyish looks, was no longer in his early twenties.

Upon learning the performer recently celebrated his 40th birthday, one fan bluntly tweeted: ‘WHAT I THOUGHT he is 19-20?’

Andrew Garfield became a household name after taking on the role of Peter Parker, from Tobey Maguire, opposite Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012

‘How the hell is Andrew Garfield 40 years old?????’ another fan asked as dozens of others demanded to know the same thing.

The beloved star was famously cast as 17-year-old Peter Parker when he was 26, making him the oldest Spider-Man actor to take on the iconic role.

In the Amazing Spider-Man 2, the 2014 hit sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, his character graduated from high school, which would’ve made Garfield 31, still passing as a teenager, in the film.

In 2022, he admitted getting cast as Spider-Man so early in his life was ‘an interesting experience, for sure.’

‘I feel that about myself as a 26-year-old. I’m like, ‘Fuck, that was a lot to take on. It’s a shit-ton to take on,” Garfield told GQ UK. ‘And I wanted to take it on. I was ready. I was so up for it. It didn’t feel heavy. But I think there were elements that felt very… I sensed danger for myself, in terms of fame and exposure.’

Considering he portrayed a high school senior at 31, it is no surprise fans were sent into a frenzy over his recent remarks about entering his 40s.

With age, he says has developed a stronger sense of self and confidence in his work.

When asked, last year at the Red Sea Film Festival, if he gets upsets if someone tells him they prefer other Spider-Mans better than his, Garfield went viral for his cheeky answer.

Upon learning the performer recently celebrated his 40th birthday, one fan bluntly tweeted: ‘WHAT I THOUGHT he is 19-20?’

‘I’m 40 years old. If you love me, fine, and if you don’t love me, it’s your loss,’ he said with a smirk.

A year prior, however, he opened up about the ‘societal’ pressure he felt to have children before turning 40.

‘It’s more about accepting a different path than what was kind of expected of me from birth. Like by this time you will have done this, and you will have at least one child – that kind of thing,’ he said.

The actor told GQ: ”I think I have some guilt around that. And obviously it’s easier for me as a man…’

During the interview, he described his pain at knowing his late mother would not have a chance to meet his children.

‘Life seems to be a perpetual practice of letting s**t go. Letting go of an idea of how a thing should look, or be, or feel,’ he told the publication.

Considering he portrayed a high school senior at 31, for the sequel, it is no surprise fans were sent into a frenzy over his recent remarks about entering his 40s; pictured in 2012

With age, he says has developed a stronger sense of self and confidence in his work (pictured in January during Paris Fashion Week)

‘And that one’s a big one [to let go of], because of course I would’ve loved my mum to have met my kids, if I’m going to have kids. And she will. In spirit. She’ll be there for it. I know she’s there, for all the big ones.

‘But, yeah. Life, life, life. Life is in charge. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. I’m curious.’

Andrew’s mother died shortly after his theatre stint in Angels in America and before he began filming for his Oscar-nominated role in Tick, Tick… Boom!

Revealing the impact his roles had on his grief, he explained: ‘That play, I think, really starts to just pull me apart. And then my mum gets sick. And it’s like, ‘Oh, right.’ I was preparing for something.

‘The person that brought me into existence not being in existence anymore. I felt like it was all connected.’

His mother Lynn died from pancreatic cancer in 2019.