As far as movie releases go, Andrew Garfield has had a great year.

I got into Marvel too late, so I hadn’t seen any of his performances in “The Amazing Spiderman.” In fact, the first movie I saw with him was “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” a 2021 biopic about televangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker who fell out of favor after their Christian TV news network was found prey to fraud activity.

The film followed the story primarily from Tammy Faye’s perspective, from her childhood to the time near her death. Jessica Chastain played the role, and it was perhaps one of the best performances of her entire career.

Although Chastain received the most attention for this film, Garfield played several iterations of Jim Bakker with such candor that I wondered in the theater, “Wait, is Andrew Garfield a good actor?”

It was probably a mistake to think of him as just another guy who played Spiderman.

Months after seeing “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Garfield’s performance has stuck with me. His spirited piety, the slow progression of his realization of his power in the relationship, the underlying desires he has throughout the movie — he was cast perfectly. He even looks like Jim Bakker.

The best pastime after watching movies is looking to see what other actors in movies and TV shows have been in, browsing Wikipedia and somehow ending up on a arbitrary topic like “toe socks” via a long convoluted trip down a rabbit hole.

From the Wikipedia excursion came a mental note to pay a special visit to Garfield’s upcoming film “Tick, Tick…BOOM.”

Lin Manuel Miranda’s first film, “Tick, Tick… BOOM”, is an adaptation of a production of the same name. It’s an autobiographical work about Jonathan Larson, who is best known for his posthumous release of the acclaimed Broadway musical “Rent.”

Larson died at age 35 of an aortic dissection, possibly caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome.

Garfield starred as Larson, singing about 30 and the issues that come with aging, as well as how he dealt with the continued rejection of his dystopian rock musical, “Superbia.”

Again, Garfield approached the role with enigmatic energy. And, her voice alongside Vanessa Hudgens (known for playing Gabriella on “High School Musical”) was exemplary. Who knew he could sing too?

Even Miranda had no idea of ​​Garfield’s talents until he saw him in a 2018 production of ‘Angels in America’, for which Garfield won a Tony, he told The New York Times.

“I just walked away thinking, ‘Oh, this guy can do anything.’ I didn’t know if he could sing, but I felt like he could do anything. So I threw it in my head probably a year before I told him about it,” Miranda told The New York Times. .

Garfield couldn’t even sing at the time. He learned to sing for the film, according to theater publication What’s on Stage.

But, you wouldn’t guess it by seeing “Tick, Tick…BOOM.”

The song “Therapy”, which featured Hudgens, went viral on social media for Garfield’s deranged performance during the song. Seeing “Therapy” play in the film was a different experience, however, as it was intertwined in a breakup scene Larson had with his girlfriend, Susan, played by Alexandra Shipp.

It perfectly captured the feelings of “madness” sometimes felt when fighting with a significant other.

Garfield’s performance in “Tick, Tick…BOOM” received critical acclaim; he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for his role.

He embodied both the roles of Jonathan Larson and Jim Bakker – two enigmatic real-life characters – so well and with such grace that one would venture to wonder who the real Andrew Garfield is.

I’m already captivated by all things entertainment, but it’s especially rewarding to discover someone “new”, who fuels your curiosity and sticks in your brain.

The newfound curiosity may even be worth it for me to go back and watch the old Spiderman movies.