here's the COMPLETE interview, Tobey Macquire, previous post was incomplete

[Guest guest]

York Sunday News Online

Maguire not ideal hero for some

 

'Spiderman' comic fans said no -- at first

 

April 28, 2002

 

By DAVID HOCHMAN

The New York Times

 

 

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- As Hollywood superheroes go,

Tobey Maguire is a little on the scrawny side. His

not-so-secret powers derive mainly from yoga and a

finicky vegetarian diet, and he would happily choose a

quiet game of backgammon over wrangling villains any

day of the week.

 

 

That he is the man behind the mask in the latest

big-screen comic book spectacular, " Spider-Man, " a

$100 million film that kicks off the summer film

season on Friday, is as amazing to Maguire as it was

to hardcore Spidey fans. Passionately protective of

their hero, they initially complained that Maguire, at

5-foot-8 and 140 pounds, was too wiry and too

wide-eyed -- in short, too unheroic -- to save the

city and get the girl.

 

 

" It wasn't like I was known as a big action-movie

guy, " Maguire said with of drollery over a plate of

organic guacamole in a West Hollywood health food

restaurant.

 

 

If anything, Maguire, at 26, has flourished by playing

the anti-hero. In role after introspective role in

movies like " The Ice Storm, " " Wonder Boys " and " The

Cider House Rules, " he has portrayed wounded loners

and pensive, moon-faced innocents. Battling green

goblins was something he reserved for off-screen, as

he came to terms with an anxious, itinerant childhood

and dedicated himself, after a period of adolescent

partying, to sobriety.

 

 

Power and responsibility: But the more you learn about

Maguire, the more you realize Spider-Man is a part

that suits him. Like the character Peter Parker, whose

radioactive spider bite transforms him from high

school geek into web-shooting wonder, Maguire is

learning to master his emerging talents while abiding

by the Spider-Man motto that " with great power comes

great responsibility " -- even if that power is of the

show business variety.

 

 

" Although I do contain the young, wise, open, naive

guy I always play, I do have other aspects of my

personality I'd like to exploit, " Maguire said. " Look

at Jack Nicholson's career. He's sustained it by doing

a little of everything: 'The Shining,' 'Five Easy

Pieces,' 'As Good as It Gets,' 'Batman.' I want to do

movies in different genres. "

 

wanted him: Yet becoming Spider-Man was not

something Maguire dreamed about, at least not at

first. " To be honest, I never read a comic book in my

entire life before doing this movie, " he said.

 

 

And, to be honest, executives at Columbia Pictures

were not, as Maguire said, " banging down my door " to

do the picture. They were tossing around names like

Jude Law, Chris O'Donnell and Freddie Prinze Jr. --

actors of a certain well-chiseled ilk. But the film's

director, Sam Raimi, really wanted Maguire.

 

 

" I sensed that Tobey had this powerful, sexier side

that his previous roles simply didn't capture, " said

Raimi, better known himself for quiet, dramatic fare

like " A Simple Plan " and cult horror movies than

blockbuster entertainment. " His work, particularly in

'Cider House Rules,' possessed a great power in its

stillness. Even when Tobey was quiet, he commanded the

screen. "

 

 

The studio did not see it that way. Columbia

executives insisted that Maguire commit to a screen

test, usually considered an insult for an actor with

so many respectable credits. When the first test was

inconclusive, the studio demanded a second, this time

with Maguire in a bodysuit.

 

 

" I was a little agitated at that point, " Maguire said.

" Then I realized the only reason I wouldn't do it was

ego, and that wasn't a good enough reason. "

 

 

Fans concerned: David Server, who is an editor at

Countingdown.com, an entertainment fan Web site, said

that once Maguire was cast, it was the comic book

readers who gave him a hard time. " Diehard Spider-Man

fans were happy they got somebody who could act,

especially someone who could play an outsider, " Server

said. " But there was concern early on that he wasn't

in good enough shape. "

 

 

Maguire took care of that. For five months, he devoted

six days a week to gymnastics, martial arts,

weightlifting and power yoga while consuming as many

as six high-protein meals a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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