Andrew Garfield clarifies Angels in America comments after backlash

Actor said comments he made in an interview about the play were 'twisted' by the media

Andrew Garfield in Angels in America (National Theatre)

Andrew Garfield has said that comments he made during an interview about being gay were “twisted” and “taken out of context” by the media.

The actor spoke out ahead of the cinema release of Angels in America, in which he plays a gay man living with Aids.

He recently came under fire by critics for saying that playing a gay man made him feel gay, “just without the physical act”.

He also said that as part of his preparation for the role he would invite friends over and watch episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race.

“Every Sunday I would have eight friends over and we would just watch Ru [RuPaul's Drag Race],” he said in the Q&A at the National Theatre in London.

He said that he wasn't gay but added: “Maybe I'll have an awakening later in my life, which I'm sure will be wonderful, and I'll get to explore that part of the garden."

His comments were criticised by LGBTQ publications such as Attitude and on social media, where fans and critics said he was "over-simplifying" what it means to be gay.

Responding to the critics, Garfield told Newsbeat: “That’s of course not what I meant at all. That discussion was about this play and how deeply grateful I am that I get to work on something so profound.

“It’s a love letter to the LGBTQ community. We were talking about, 'How do you prepare for something so important and so big?' and I was basically saying, 'I dive in as fully as I possibly can.'"

Angels in America has been lauded as one of the “most important plays of the 20th century”.

The two-part production is almost eight hours long and explores attitudes to politics, race and sexuality in the US during the Aids crisis and the conservative Raegan administration of the 1980s.

Garfield added: ”My only longing is to serve and to keep the world spinning forward for the LGBTQ community in whatever way I'm meant to,“

”It's important to a community that I feel so welcomed by. The intention [in my comments] was to speak to that, speak to my desire to play this part to the best of my ability and to fully immerse myself in a culture that I adore.”

Garfield has previously spoken about how he was cautious about accepting the role as Prior Walter in the play, apparently unsure as to whether he deserved to take on the role of such an iconic gay character.

However, he was convinced when Tony Kushner, the play’s writer, personally asked him to do so.

Angels in America will be broadcast live to cinemas across the UK as part of National Theatre Live, with Part One on 20 July and Part Two on 27 July.