Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield

Publish date: 2024-03-20

Who: Oscar-nominated actor Andrew Garfield, 38, and Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone, 33.

How They Met: The actors met during a screen test for The Amazing Spider-Man, presumably at some point in 2010.

"I met her first at the screen test and I was like, 'Oh, man, if I have to spend six years of my life talking about one thing over and over again to camera crews and stuff, I hope it's with this person,'" Garfield told E! News about meeting Stone.

And he didn't stop there.

In a separate interview with Teen Vogue he said, "It was like I woke up when she came in," adding that, "it was like diving into white-water rapids and having no desire to hang on to the side."

It didn't take long for dating rumors to circulate. Us Weekly reported that the co-stars "got close during filming and have been hooking up" in June 2011.

And though neither actor would address their romantic relationship in the press, the hand-holding and beachside make outs gave us an idea of their status.

Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield. Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Why We Loved Them: So the cat was out of the bag, anyone who'd ever stood in a grocery checkout line knew Garfield and Stone were a real-life couple — but that didn't stop the Spider-Man actors from protecting their privacy at every turn.

"I think certain actors can talk about their lives in a way that is free and open," Garfield told Glamour in 2012. "I think, for us, I think we just want to be actors and get lost in the stories that we're telling … We don't really like talking about anything personal in our lives."

This commitment to keeping their relationship to themselves reached an awkward crescendo when Garfield, Stone, and co-star Jamie Foxx visited The Ellen DeGeneres Show in April 2014. DeGeneres, known for putting her celebrity guests on the spot, commented on the franchise's stars' chemistry.

"Do you work at that?" she asked. "I mean, before you kiss, do you kiss to make sure you're gonna kiss OK?"

Garfield, looking extremely uncomfortable, repeatedly sipped from his mug before asking the host if they were back from commercial break. "Welcome back to The Ellen Show," he said when she told him they were. "Ellen has another question, I think."

DeGeneres didn't let up. "I was just saying that the chemistry seems so real … " she went on before Garfield jokingly told her to, "Drop it."

Foxx, attempting to defuse the moment, added, "I say great acting. It was just amazing."

"Amazing acting," DeGeneres agreed, "because it's like they're together or something."

That summer, the couple came up with a clever way to make something positive out of a paparazzi run-in. While out to eat in N.Y.C., they noticed photographers and emerged from their restaurant with handwritten messages held over their faces.

Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield. Ignat/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

"Good morning!" Stone's note began. "We were eating and saw a group of guys with cameras outside. And so we thought, let's try this again. We don't need the attention, but these wonderful organizations do."

Garfield's note listed out the urls for Youth Mentoring Connection, Autism Speaks, The Worldwide Orphans Organization, and Gilda's Club (now known as the Red Door Community). "Here's to the stuff that matters," the card read. "Have a great day!"

When They Peaked: While Garfield and Stone unmistakably had each other's backs, they weren't afraid to (lovingly) call each other out when need-be.

Such was the case during The Amazing Spider-Man 2's press tour, when Garfield described sewing as "feminine" during a Q&A.

"It's kind of a feminine thing to do," Garfield said when explaining how Peter Parker sewed his Spider-Man costume. "He really kind of made a very masculine costume out of a very feminine …"

Stone cut him off, asking, "It's feminine how?"

Garfield dug himself out quickly, but Stone's point was taken.

"I would say that femininity is about more delicacy and precision and detail work and craftsmanship — like my mother, she's an amazing craftsman," he said. "She in fact made my first Spider-Man costume when I was three. So I use it as a compliment. To compliment the feminine not just in women but in men as well. We all have feminine in us, young men."

The Breakup: In April 2015, People reported that Garfield and Stone were "taking a break" — the consensus being that their schedules were making it difficult to connect.

A couple weeks later, Stone sparked a small media firestorm when she stepped out carrying a paper bag with Garfield's full name written on it.

The Easy A star kind of addressed the confusing outing during an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine a couple months later. "When I picked up the bag, I was like, 'This is kind of funny if there are any [paparazzi] out there,'" she said. "There's probably some rebelliousness that comes out in me after all these stories and people texting you for weeks about something that, for the most part, is not true. But even when it's false, I would rather just let it be false." So … what?

"See, I never talk about this stuff for this exact reason — because it's all so speculative and baseless," she clarified.

At the end of October, People reported that Garfield and Stone's "break" had evolved into a full on breakup a few months prior.

"There was no drama, they've been apart while working," a source shared. "They still care about each other."

As with the relationship itself, Garfield and Stone stayed fairly quiet on the topic of their split.

The following year, Stone allowed that Garfield was "someone I still love very much" in her Vogue cover story.

About two months later, Garfield showed us that the feeling was mutual when The Hollywood Reporter asked him which actor or actress he'd bring with him on a desert island. "Emma Stone," he said. "I love Emma. She's all right. She can come." Most amicable breakup of all time?

When Stone hit the awards circuit for La La Land in 2017, Garfield called himself "her biggest fan."

"It's been bliss to be able to watch her success and watch her bloom into the actress she is," he said during an episode of Vanity Fair's Little Gold Men podcast.

Where They Are Now:

Garfield is currently dating model Alyssa Miller, with whom he attended the 2022 SAG Awards.

The actor has received critical praise for his performance in tick, tick…Boom and was nominated for an Oscar. He also recently made an appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home (which he lied to Stone about).

Stone began dating Saturday Night Live writer Dave McCary in 2017. They wed in 2020 and welcomed daughter Lousie Jean together in early 2021.

The actress is slated to reprise her role as Disney villain Cruella de Vil in the live-action sequel Cruella 2.

#TBT: Check in every Thursday as we throw it back to some of our favorite celebrity couples of all time.

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