Crowley and Garfield have wanted to work together again since they made the 2007 British TV series Boy A, Garfield’s film debut. But unlike that dark tale, in which Garfield plays a young man reintegrating into society after serving 14 years in juvenile prison, We live in time would allow Garfield to showcase his comedic abilities along with his dramatic acting abilities. Crowley said, “He’s so funny, and being able to showcase both sides of his talents in one role—extreme emotion and physical comedy—is irresistible.”
When Crowley approached Garfield about the script, the actor was on sabbatical and hadn’t worked in about a year. Since he was in a similar reflective place himself, the script felt like exactly what he was looking for. Plus, it was a stark contrast to his most recent work as the ambitious creative genius Jonathan Larson in the musical Tick, tick…Boom! “Of course it has similar themes of a ticking clock and a growing awareness of the sacredness and brevity of life, but it’s presented through a very, very different lens,” Garfield said. “And for me, on an acting challenge level, it was interesting to see, okay, how do I play a guy who reads very ordinary and is comfortable with his own mediocrity, after having played someone who is so obsessed with being extraordinary and being a genius?”
With Garfield on board, the next challenge was finding a co-star. Crowley immediately thought of Pugh. “I’d never met her, but I was a big fan of her work, and I was very impressed with her ability to portray a level of strength and power,” he says. “I thought if she could pull that off and channel that vulnerability that was necessary at the end of the story, it could be really rich and interesting.”
But for a while, it looked like Pugh wouldn’t be available because she had to film the Marvel movie. Thunder. Then, by some miracle, schedules changed, and she had a short break. Her agent gave her the script. “I think for a long time, I wanted to find something that wasn’t necessarily as tough or as strong as my other characters,” said Pugh, who is known for her work in Midsommar, Little Women, Oppenheimer, And Dune: Part Two. “I think it came at the right time in my life. I get to play a very, very ordinary woman who is talented in her own way. It’s about intense love and the strong bond between two people.”
Garfield and Pugh had never worked together before, but they did present an award together at the 2023 Oscars—setting the internet ablaze with their instant chemistry. Crowley first witnessed the spark between the two actors during their week of rehearsals. “There were a couple of moments in the scenes, just fleeting moments, where you saw their brilliance and their brilliance. I would say, ‘Put that away. We’re not doing that again until we have a camera running it,’” he says.[It’s like] Watch two extraordinary tennis players on centre court at Wimbledon, and suddenly one of them can’t help but hit the ball very hard, and the other just hits the ball back.”
