Since their split, fans have wondered why Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone broke up and where The Amazing Spider-Man co-stars are now after they ended their relationship one year after the final Spider-Man movie.
Garfield and Stone started dating in 2011 while filming The Amazing Spider-Man, in which they played love interests Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) and Gwen Stacy. In an interview with MTV News in 2012, Garfield recalled his “instant connection” with Stone while filming the movie. “We got on really well as people, in between [takes],” he said. “That was the fun stuff: In between, we’d just mess around, and I felt, ‘Ah, this is different.’ I wasn’t really aware what was happening in the screen test. She keeps you on your toes, and that wakes you up. That was the beginning.” Garfield told Teen Vogue at the time that he knew there was something special about Stone when he met her at her audition. “It was like I woke up when she came in… It was like diving into white-water rapids and having no desire to hang onto the side. Throughout shooting, it was wild and exciting,” he said.
Stone and Garfield are one of three Spider-Man couples to have dated in real life. The first couple was Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, who played love interests Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. The two started dating while filming 2002’s Spider-Man but split before production started on 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Garfield and Stone were the next Spider-Man couple to have dated in real life followed by Tom Holland and Zendaya, who play Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Michelle Jones-Watson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’ Spider-Man movies.
In an interview with The New York Times in 2021, MCU Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal revealed that she told Holland and Zendaya, as well as Garfield and Stone not to date each other after Maguire and Dunst’s breakup in the middle of the Spider-Man movies. “I took Tom and Zendaya aside, separately, when we first cast them and gave them a lecture. Don’t go there—just don’t. Try not to,” she said. “I gave the same advice to Andrew and Emma. It can just complicate things, you know? And they all ignored me.”
Garfield and Stone split in 2015, a year after the release of their last Spider-Man movie together, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So why did Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone break up? Read on for the real reason they split and where Garfield and Stone are now.
Why did Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone break up?
Garfield and Stone split in 2015 after four years together. A source told Us Weekly in October 2015 that the couple split a “couple months ago” but remain friends. “They still have a lot of love for one another and they are on good terms with each another and remain close,” the insider said. “It just wasn’t working.”
A source also told People at the time that there was “no drama” in Garfield and Stone’s breakup and confirmed that the two ended their relationship on good terms. “There was no drama, they’ve been apart while working. They still care about each other,” the insider said. “They still have love for one another. They are on good terms with each other and remain close.”
Long distance could have also been the reason. Stone and Garfield’s split came four months after a source told People in April 2010 that the two were taking a break due to long distance. Garfield at the time was filming his movie Silence in Taiwan, while Stone was in Los Angeles for the Golden Globes and Oscars, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Birdman. “He’s thrown himself in the project to the detriment of all else,” the insider said. But it’s too early to say the relationship is over.”
The source continued, “Emma understands his work anxieties—it’s why she originally pulled out of Cabaret last year and only did it this year—but they’re taking a break from seeing each other. They’re both a slave to their schedules. This time last year they were privately discussing marriage.”
The insider also explained that Stone and Garfield had decided not to split officially until the next time they saw each other. “It’s one of those situations where only Andrew and Emma quite know if they’ll pick up where they left off or they’ve separated,” the source said. “They are just separated for work. Andrew is overseas. They are both busy with their careers and have not seen each other.”
A source also told Us Weekly at the time that Stone and Garfield’s relationship ended due to the “dark place” Garfield was in as he was filming Silence, in which Garfield plays a 17-century Jesuit and lost 40 pounds for. “He’d been in a dark place for months, getting into his role,” the insider said. “He wasn’t being the best partner.”
Rumors that Garfield cheated on Stone resurfaced in 2024 after his Chicken Shop Date with host Amelia Dimoldenberg. A source told OK! magazine in 2015 Stone noticed that Garfield was seemingly distant and “basically called him out on his behavior and demanded to know exactly what was going on,” which is when he confessed to his alleged infidelity. “She was horrified,” the insider said.
The insider claimed that Garfield blamed his behavior on stress at first before eventually confessing to Stone. “He felt truly terrible about it,” the source said. “He says that he met a girl in a bar, and that he would never dream of doing anything like that ever again.”
The source continued, “She never thought that he’d be capable of this in a million years, and she’s beside herself.” After the incident, the insider claimed that Stone moved out of her and Garfield’s Los Angeles, New York, and London homes. “Emma’s getting all of her stuff together and looking for a new place in L.A.,” the insider said. “She feels betrayed and says that she can’t be with someone she doesn’t trust. She knows that they can’t be together every second of every day and doesn’t want to be constantly worried that he’ll cheat again.”
Where are Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone now?
So where are Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone now? In 2017, two years after her breakup from Garfield, Stone started dating Saturday Night Live director Dave McCary. They got engaged in December 2019 and married in 2020. The two welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Louise Jean McCary, in March 2021. The name was a tribute to Stone’s grandmother, Jean Louise. Jean is also Stone’s middle name. As for Garfield, news broke in November 2021 that he was dating model Alyssa Miller, who has also been linked to Spider-Man: Far From Home actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
In an interview with IMDb in 2019, Garfield opened up about his view on love. “Yes, I do believe in love at first sight but I also believe that you would love absolutely anybody if you knew their story,” he said. “I believe that the modern notion of romantic love is seriously misguided and it creates a lot of problems in our modern world.” He continued, “I believe that we need to reevaluate this idea that we have of the nuclear family, this idea that we have of two-point-four children, this idea we have that it’s Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve. I believe it’s possible for all of us to be in love all the time with ourselves and everyone around us.”
Garfield confirmed in an interview with Variety in 2021 that he and Stone remain friends while looking back on The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. “It was only beautiful,” he said. “I got to meet Emma [Stone] and work with her and Sally Field.” Garfield was also seen giving Stone a standing ovation when she won a Golden Globe for La La Land in 2017. “I’m her biggest fan as an artist. I’m constantly inspired by her work. I’m constantly inspired by how she handles and holds herself,” Garfield told Vanity Fair at the time. “So, for me it’s been bliss to be able to watch her success and watch her bloom into the actress she is.”
He continued, “We care about each other so much, and that’s a given, that’s kind of this unconditional thing. There’s so much love between us and so much respect … It’s also been wonderful to have that kind of support for each other. It’s nothing but a beautiful thing.”
Warning: Spider-Man: No Way Home spoilers ahead. There were also rumors that Stone was set to star with Garfield in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home but she pulled out of the role due to the health crisis and her pregnancy with her daughter at the time. Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Garfield reprise his role as Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) after a spell by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) brought him and other characters from other Spider-Man franchises to the MCU’s Spider-Man universe. The movie also saw Garfield’s Spider-Man save MJ (Zendaya)—the love interest of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man—after MJ fell off of the Statue of Liberty. The scene was a reference to the death of Gwen Stacy (Stone) in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which saw Garfield’s Spider-Man fail to save her after she falls in a similar way.
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For more about Spider-Man, check out Marvel’s special edition book, Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular: The Definitive Comic Art Collection, which takes readers through 50 years of Spider-Man. The deluxe art book—which includes exclusive interviews and content from the writers and illustrators that brought the Marvel superhero to life half a century ago—follows Spider-Man’s history, from his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962 to how he went from being Marvel’s chronic underdog to the amazing and spectacular superhero fans know today. The book—which also includes a deep dive into Spider-Man’s superpowers, including his spider-like strength, genius mind and webslingers (not to mention his “fully loaded arsenal of quips—Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular also features never-before-seen art of the friendly neighborhood superhero, and behind-the-scene details from creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Gerry Conway and Tom DeFalco, as well as others who helped bring Peter Parker to life. Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular is a must-read for any Marvel superfan.
