When Sheen and Field were asked if they were familiar with the comics before making the film, neither had been that familiar. Field stated that she hadn’t read any Spider-Man comics but she did read Little Lulu as a kid. “ I read Little Lulu and I haven’t seen them make that into anything yet. I read Little Lulu; that was my girl. I can sing that song if
you’d like me to. [starts to sing] Little Lulu, Little Lulu…nevermind, I’m not going to. No, I loved comic books; I was a real comic books freak when I was a kid except they were the 'girl' ones. I read all the Archie comics, but my brother read all the Spider-Man comics. My brother is a world-renowned physicist, one of the finest physicists in the world, he’s almost two years older than I, and he is so excited that, finally, I’ve arrived. I’m in this movie because my brother used to read all of those. I am familiar with the movies however. I have never read the Spider-Man comics still to this day.”

Sheen mentioned, “I did read the Sluggo and Nancy comics but my passion was movies. As far as Spider-Man is concerned, specifically, I’m twenty-one years older than he is so I missed it totally but I do recall the afternoon cartoon. [starts to sing] Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Radioactive Spider-Man. My kids would rush to the TV to see that but that’s as close as I came.”

Ifans was a bit more familiar with Spider-Man. When asked what excited him to take on the role he declared, “It’s Spider-Man. You don’t say no to that! Also, I was on a little island in the Mediterranean when a bit of the script came to me and I obviously knew that Sony was behind it and it was kind of a big deal and then I heard that Marc Webb was going to be directing it. I had seen (500) Days of Summer and thought it was a beautiful film. I just thought that it was such a brave, interesting, and fantastic choice for a director. Maybe they can go at this from a different place. I was aware of the character, Dr. Curtis Connors, before but what fascinated me with the character was unlike a villain who walked in to spare with Spider-Man, he has a very real emotional connection with him, particularly with Peter’s father. He is a very intelligent scientist and genuinely wants to change and benefit and help the lives of millions of humans. Limbless humans in this case. We’re living in a world where on a daily basis we see young men return limbless from war zones and civilians alike who were landmine victims. This science or technology would be a huge benefit to millions of people and I was just interested to see how his hunger for the advancement of that science and his moral conflict with the corporation that he works for. A corporation that obviously wants to benefit financially from this technology and also benefit its owner, Norman Osbourne, at the expense of unwitting New Yorkers. Connors even to the end is morally repelled by that decision they take and decides to become his own lab rat, which of course allows him to regrow his limb, but he doesn’t figure on what that cold-blooded, reptilian super powerful, glistening in the sun sense of hubris does to a compassionate human mind.”

When Sheen was asked what it’s like working on a big Hollywood film, rather than working with a rebel director in the jungle going crazy. He said he doesn’t know if he should answer that. Field quickly told him, “Say you don’t remember!” Sheen jokingly replied, “Um, I don’t remember any of that,” and then went on to say, “At my age at this time in my career I’m lucky to be living let alone working. So I give thanks and praise each day that I’m able to get up and walk around. To still be able to work and make a living doing the thing I love most, I’m delighted so whether it’s a big budget or a small budget I’m just delighted to be on the team.”

The actors were then asked how they prefer to see a big blockbuster that they just finished, whether it be in a small, intimate screening room or a huge IMAX screen with a big audience. Field was quick to say that she doesn’t like to see herself on screen. “I don’t like watching myself at all, I’ve never liked watching myself. Most actors have difficulty watching themselves. Now as I’ve reached an age where it’s really hard to look at yourself I may never see it. Just for a very selfish reason. I mean, it’s in 3D for God sake. I’m not good just watching myself on a television screen! I grapple with it, because part of myself says, 'Come on Sally, get over it, you want to see Andrew’s work, Marc’s work, and it’s such a small vain, little thing,' but I do have that and I admit it. There! It’s out there! Also, regarding watching dailies. Marc didn’t have any of us watching dailies. It’s really not a good idea to have actors watching dailies, ever, because the whole task of the actor is to not have any mental vision of yourself outside yourself because then you start imitating yourself. That is the difficult thing about watching a film you’ve done because you become aware of your own physicality in a way and that’s not good to have in your mind.”

Sheen agreed, “It’s a mistake for actors to see themselves. I once heard an artist say that they did not display their own paintings in their home because they didn’t want to be influenced by themselves. Watching myself on television, for example, I always warned the family what was coming. We would gather to watch a West Wing episode or some movie of the week, and I’d say, 'Now this is going to happen, and you’re to feel this way about it.' I could control the audience when the television came on. With movies, I prefer to go to a movie I was in after it had opened and would see it with an audience to get an honest reaction. I remember one time I was driving on a hot summer day and was passing this shopping center, and they had the movies listed and Major League was playing. I had never seen it, and I thought this was an opportune time. So I went in, and there were two other people besides me. In the moment where Charlie (Sheen) comes out of the bullpen and they start playing 'Wild Thing,' I started to weep, and I said, ‘Go get ’em, kid!’ And I wanted to tell the whole audience, all two of them, that that was my son coming in to pitch for the Indians.”

When asked what it was like working with such young talent as Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, Ifans praised their work stating, “I never once considered Andrew or Emma as kids or virgins to the dubious craft of acting. I was more often than not humbled by their performances. I think Andrew in particular has given us a Spider-Man of such complexity and intelligence and beauty and poetry. I think it’s just a phenomenal performance on an emotional level. When you see Andrew and Emma fall in love for the first time I really believe it’s the first time. When you see his rage and his sense of his injustice of the world I believe that because I felt those feelings when I was Spider-Man’s age. I think that’s the enduring appeal of Spider-Man. These are all emotions that we can recognize. That teenage place of physical and emotional flux is very real to us all. I think Andrew has mapped that out so eloquently. It’s really moving and beautiful to watch. Physically you see this kid who is riddled with hormones and issues and questions and pressures. And you see how that affects him physically and you see him transform from that into this beautiful, mercurial arachnid Olympian angel that penetrates the skies of New York. To see him leave that teenage chrysalis and become the web-making butterfly that he is at the end is quite a thing to behold.”

Sheen was asked what drew him to become involved in The Amazing Spider-Man. He said very simply that it is characters that he drawn to. “If I can relate to them personally, all the better. For any artist, if something is not personal, it’s impersonal. If it’s impersonal, then nobody cares. So I’m attracted to things that speak to me personally, whether it’s a villain or a hero. In this case, what particularly attracted me to the film was the lady next to me. And I got to play a character that spoke to me. I’m a father and a husband and a grandfather so I’ve had some familiarity with raising kids (laughs), albeit not always successfully [chuckles]. Never mind! One of the things that really fascinated me about Spider-Man is that he is dealing with what all young people today are, particularly in our society, and that is peer pressure. To step up and be your better self is going to cost you, but that’s the only way you can become free and that’s the only way you can become yourself. But anything worthwhile has got to cost you. If it doesn’t then you’re left to question its value.”

To read IAR's exclusive interviews with director Marc Webb, actor Denis Leary, and editor Alan Edward Bell, click here, here, and here.

The Amazing Spider-Man swings into theaters on July 3rd.