Sheen Speaks Highly Of New Spider-Man Garfield

by Tim Lammers on 09/13/11

Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Andrew Garfield in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (photo: Sony)

During a stop on a bus tour across the U.S. with his son, Emilio Estevez, to talk about their new film, "The Way," Martin Sheen talked briefly with me Monday about his work on the Marvel superhero movie reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Sheen plays Uncle Ben Parker in the film, and said that he worked quite a bit with Sally Field (Aunt May) as well as Andrew Garfield, who plays his nephew Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

The veteran "West Wing" star said he was thrilled to work with the relative newcomer, who made a splash last year as Eduardo Saverin in "The Social Network."

"This young lad is quite sensational. He's a wonderful actor and a lovely guy, too, so I was quite happy to work with him," Sheen said. "He was very generous and very accommodating in all of our scenes."

Sheen also sang the praises of director Marc Webb.

"He took a ribbing for having that name," Sheen said with a laugh. "It was a joy to work with him."

"Of course it was a joy, they had $200 million to make the film," cracked Estevez, who's worked mostly on the independent circuit as a director.

Sheen, of course, is assuming the role in "The Amazing Spider-Man" that was played by Cliff Robertson in director Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy.

Unfortunately, Sheen was taken aback to learn of Robertson's recent death during our interview and was unable to comment on the actor's legacy -- other than to note that they, in addition to both playing Ben Parker, had each played President John F. Kennedy in their careers.

Robertson, who died Sept. 10 at the age of 88, played Navy Lt. Kennedy in 1963's "PT-109," while Sheen played JFK in the miniseries "Kennedy" in 1983.

While their lists of credits are long, Sheen said he never worked with Robertson but mentioned he had met the actor once.

Also starring Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans, "The Amazing Spider-Man" is set for a July 3, 2012, release.

Written and directed by Estevez, "The Way" opens in limited release in theaters Oct. 7. Look for my full interview with Sheen and Estevez about the film early next month.