{"id":1893,"date":"2026-08-17T04:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/?p=1893"},"modified":"2026-08-17T04:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:23:02","slug":"andrew-garfield-finds-wonder-in-everyday-life-in-the-magic-faraway-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uscnews.org\/?p=1893","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Garfield finds wonder in everyday life in \u2018The Magic Faraway Tree\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Claire Foy, left, and Andrew Garfield attend “The Magic Faraway Tree” special screening at Regal Union Square on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera\/Invision\/AP, File)<\/small><\/p>\n

2026-08-17T04:01:12Z<\/p>\n

Andrew Garfield<\/a><\/span> wants audiences to look up from their phones and remember that there is still plenty of magic in the world around them.<\/p>\n

That idea drew the two-time Oscar nominee to \u201cThe Magic Faraway Tree,\u201d<\/a><\/span> a family adventure about Tim, a stay-at-home father whose family is forced to reconsider life after his wife, Polly, quits her job. They move to the countryside, where their children discover the magical Faraway Tree and its ever-changing worlds, sending the family into a series of fantastical adventures. The film, based on Enid Blyton\u2019s children\u2019s books, arrives in U.S. theaters on Friday.<\/p>\n

For Garfield, the story\u2019s themes of nature, imagination and community feel especially timely as technology increasingly shapes everyday life. \u201cI think people are craving connection and community and a kind of reconnection to the earth and to each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Garfield said he became passionate about the project after reading Simon Farnaby\u2019s screenplay. \u201cI really just adore his sense of whimsy and heartfeltness and magic and joy,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt very, very passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim\u2019s journey reflects the film\u2019s larger ideas about finding wonder outside the routine and distractions of modern life. For Garfield, that sense of wonder extends beyond fantasy. \u201cI think it\u2019s all around us,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are so many things to be in awe of on this planet.\u201d The film, he said, is ultimately about recognizing that \u201cthere\u2019s magic in the ordinary\u201d as well as in the extraordinary.<\/p>\n

Garfield, whose credits include playing Spider-Man, says he is drawn to roles with an element of play, community and the natural world. He focuses on \u201canything that keeps me awake to the remembering of the connection that we have to each other, the connection we have to nature, how we are all interconnected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Garfield grew up reading Enid Blyton\u2019s \u201cThe Famous Five\u201d with his brother but did not read \u201cThe Faraway Tree\u201d series as a child. His mother introduced him to another beloved literary adventurer: Bilbo Baggins, the hero of J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s \u201cThe Hobbit.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n