Tobey or Not Tobey

The first thing I did as soon as I sat down for this exclusive one-on-one (for TV and print) with Tobey Maguire at a function room of the newly-opened (last March 31) Ritz Carlton Hotel in Tokyo was give him a copy of the Conversation I did with him back in 2004 in Beverly Hills during the Spider-Man 2 press junket.

"For me?" Tobey said, smiling.

Yes, for you, I told him.

While the technicians were doing the sound check, Tobey browsed through the article and, when he came upon the paragraph that said "he’s small, only 5’7"," he broke into an even wider smile and said, "Actually, I’m 5’8"."

I stood corrected.

Face-to-face with Tobey at the press junket for Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man 3 (opening worldwide on May 1), I was amazed at how gentle and kind and accommodating he was. I asked if it was okay to have his picture taken with me, holding a copy of The STAR that had the first Conversation with him, and Tobey said, "By all means." I handed my Cybershot to a technician for him to take my picture with Tobey and the poor guy must have been so nervous that the four shots came out a bit blurred.

"We can do it again later," Tobey offered.

The night before, I attended the world premiere of Spider-Man 3 at the Toho Cinema in Roppongi Hills Arena together with more than 50 other entertainment journalists from around Asia, Europe and the USA. It was drizzling as it did in all of Japan during the four-day junket but on the red carpet, the spirit of Tobey and his co-stars (Kirsten Dunst, James Franco and Topher Grace among them) was hardly dampened, flashing sunshiny smiles at the shrieking fans lining both sides of the way, unmindful of the stinging spring coldness.

In Spider-Man 3, again directed by Sam Raimi (who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent, based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko), Tobey as Peter Parker, to quote the production notes, has finally managed to strike a balance between his devotion to Mary Jane "MJ" Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and his duties as a superhero. But there is a storm brewing in the horizon. When his suit suddenly changes, turning jet-black and enhancing his powers, it transforms Peter, too. Under the influence of the suit, Peter’s pride and over-confidence take hold and he begins to neglect the ones he cares about the most. As two of the most feared villains yet, Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church) and Venom (Topher Grace of In Good Company fame) gather unparalleled power and a thirst for retribution, Spider-Man’s greatest battle is one within himself. He needs to rediscover who he is and what makes him the hero people love.

Here are excerpts from that Conversation with Tobey last Tuesday:

You signed up for three Spider-Man movies and you’re done with the third. Wouldn’t there be a 4, a 5 or a 6, etc.?

"Right now, I’m not really thinking about a fourth Spider-Man movie. I’m not really sure what the future holds for me. I’m not sure about the development on Spider-Man 4. I’m not committed to it."

But would you be willing to do it if offered?

"Yeah, sure! For me, what counts is a good story and a good script. It would be nice if Sam Raimi would be the director and if the same cast would be involved. Then, I would consider doing it. Yeah, why not? But as I said, it’s not what’s in my mind right now."

Of course, you’ve grown up with the Spider-Man movies through the past eight years. How have you changed in the process?

"I don’t know. But I surely have changed a lot."

How do you handle fame?

"It’s not really about fame. For me, it’s more about, you know...if I’m in an audience and I see people coming together and having a fun time watching the movie, I would really appreciate that."

You almost didn’t do Spider-Man 3 because of your bad back. Did you get it from doing the Spider-Man movies?

"Well, I started having back pains after I did Seabiscuit and the press made a big thing out of it, speculating that maybe I wouldn’t be doing Spider-Man 2. You know, I did Spider-Man 2, so Spider-Man 3 was never a question. My back is fine; it hasn’t been bothering me."

Didn’t you have a hard time doing (some of the) stunts because of your back problem?

"No. Again, I must say that my back was fine while I was doing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. Oh yes, I did some of the stunts. Some were done by stuntmen and some by CGI (Computer-Generated Imaging)."

Of the three Spider-Man movies, which was the hardest to do?

"I had the most fun doing Spider-Man 3. When I read the script, I was really excited about the different direction we were going with Peter Parker and the other characters and storylines. We are covering a lot of new ground here, with a fresh take on the story while maintaining the continuity of the characters from the two previous films. Peter is feeling pretty good; things are lining up in his life in ways they never have before. He’s finally receiving recognition as Spider-Man, as someone who is helping his community and he is in this great relationship with Mary Jane who is also experiencing success of her own. He is beginning to feel the confidence of becoming a man, mixed with the glowing attention he has begun to receive."

In Spider-Man 3, Peter Parker shows his dark side (Spider-Man in black tights). Do you also have a dark side?

"Well, I’m just human so I guess just like everybody else I’ve got all kinds of ‘dark sides’. In this new movie, the public is starting to adore Peter Parker and it’s going to his head. He’s behaving arrogantly, showing his dark side. It just gets darker from there but in the end he overcomes his dark side and returns to his positive side."

You admitted in an interview that you attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at 19, saying your life has become "oddly predictable."

"Yes, in that interview I did admit that I have an addictive nature; I have an obsessive-compulsive nature. I really don’t know what it is clinically. Sometimes I go to addictive extremes and before I got sober that became routine."

Are you as excited now doing Peter Parker/Spider-Man as you were during the first time?

"There’s always something new coming , new things to experience. You always want to tread new ground and this was a chance to do that with familiar characters. The fresh take is a direct continuity. It came out in the first two Spider-Man movies. As an actor, it’s really exciting; there’s a lot to play with. We were always looking for ways to take the mask off, so you can see what Peter is going through. When I see a movie, I get invested in the characters and I care about them. I’ve got to connect with them so I can feel what they’re feeling."

In the latest movie, Peter Parker also undergoes a "battle within himself." Have you ever gone through the same experience?

"Not as dramatic as Peter Parker but yes, I have gone through similar conflicts in life. Everybody goes through the same experience as they grow up. Yeah, I can relate to Peter Parker on that aspect of his growing up."

Spider-Man is the hero of everybody, both young and old. Do you have your own hero?

"There are a lot of people in my life whom I admire. But at the same time, I don’t put a label on anybody because it puts a lot of pressure on them."

How do you spend time away from work? Do you spend it like ordinary folks do?

"I spend time with my family. I go biking or water-skiing."

You’re a brand-new father. Why did you call your five-month-old daughter Ruby Sweetheart? (According to an Associated Press report, Tobey is engaged to be married to Jennifer Meyer, 29, the jewelry-designer daughter of Universal Pictures president and COO Ron Meyer.)

"Sweetheart is her middle name. It’s to honor my fiancee Jen’s grandmother who used to call Jen that — Sweetheart. I think it’s a sweet name."

How do you feel being a father?

"I tell you this...When I see my daughter smile, I think it’s just the most fantastic sight in the world. No, it’s not unexpected. I did expect to fall completely in love with my child."

Are there similarities between your life and that of Peter Parker?

"Yes, there are. Peter Parker has a lot of angst. He’s having trouble with almost everything — growing up, going after Mary Jane, in school, at work, at home. He seems to be overwhelmed by life. There’s a lot of pain in his life. When I was small, our family moved around a lot. We moved between California, Oregon and Washington. I lived with my mother, my father, my aunts, my uncles and my grandparents. I was always the new kid on the block. I grew up poor. I’ve known poverty."

Did you grow up the way Peter Parker did — you know, full of insecurities?

"My being poor didn’t affect me when I was a kid. But it surely did as I grew older. You see, our family was on welfare for a while — you know, food stamps, Medi-Cal, whatever. It was the food-stamps that kinda embarrassed me. Everytime my mother went to the grocery to buy food with those stamps, I’d run out of the store. Yes, I felt kinda humiliated. When I think about it now, I realize that there was no reason for me to be embarrassed or humiliated because being poor is nothing to be ashamed of. But there were nice moments, such as having money to buy each other gifts during Christmas."

What lesson did you learn from that difficult childhood?

"It encouraged me to be independent, not to rely on anybody. There were demons in my life that I had to deal with. I constantly dealt with the fear of going broke. There was a challenge for me to take control of my life. You’ve got to face the realities of life and deal with them head-on."

You had to be bribed with $100 by your mom to be an actor. I read somewhere that you wanted to be a cook, to take up Home Economics in college, but your mom insisted that you enroll in a drama class. Did you do any other jobs before you became an actor?

"As a kid, I would pick up leaves or rake a lawn for a few bucks. I also sold candies. As a big boy, I helped out my family by doing something for more bucks. Some members of my family were into construction so at 11 I’d hammer some nails and made a couple of bucks an hour. At 13, I started acting. By the time I was 16, I was making an adult kind of living."

And now, you’re Spider-Man, making huge bucks. Are you comfortable where you are — I mean, inside that tight fit?

"Are you kidding? It’s the worst place to be in. I tell you, when they first fitted me for that suit, I expected them to put tights on me so the bodycast wouldn’t stick to my body hair but they didn’t. They wanted the costume to fit very well so they didn’t put tights on me. The bodycast had hardened and dried so when they took it off, they ripped almost all the hair off my legs. It was terrible, very excruciating. I could still feel how awful it was."

So, don’t you like to be Spider-Man?

"No, I don’t. I’m happy with my life now and I don’t want to complicate it with being Spider-Man. What would I do with super powers? I wouldn’t know what to do with them. No, I don’t like to be Spider-Man. I’m happy being myself."

(Note: For more of Tobey Maguire and the other stars of Spider-Man 3, watch The Ricky Lo Exclusives on Wednesday, April 25, 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on QTV 11.)

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