Andrew Garfield gets emotional talking about his mother’s death with Elmo: ‘Sadness is kind of a gift’

Andrew Garfield has been busy promoting his upcoming release We Live In Time. The actor had a surprisingly open conversation and proceeded to talk about his mother’s death. In a new video interview with Elmo, Andrew shared how he misses his mom and that the sadness he feels in her loss is kind of a ‘gift.’ The actor’s candid confession and honesty has won the internet. (Also read: Florence Pugh tears up at her film, We Live in Time premiere at TIFF: ‘Watching it…’)

Andrew Garfield shared Elmo was his late mother’s favourite

“It’s kind of a lovely thing to feel, in a way, because it means you really loved somebody when you miss them,” the actor explained on “Sesame Street.”

Some emotions are so profound and universal that the best way to express them is to talk to a Muppet.

When Andrew Garfield stopped by Sesame Street this week, he and Elmo got into a surprisingly emotional conversation about how to cope with grief and how Garfield continues to mourn the loss of his mother, Lynn, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2019.

“It’s actually kind of okay to miss somebody,” Garfield said, through a few tears, while sitting on a Sesame Street stoop.

“It is?” Elmo responded. “Elmo always feels really sad when he misses somebody.”

“Me too. But, you know, that sadness is kind of a gift,” Garfield responded. “It’s kind of a lovely thing to feel, in a way, because it means you really loved somebody when you miss them. When I miss my mom, I remember all of the cuddles I used to get from her, all the hugs I used to get from her, and it makes me feel close to her, in a strange way… When I miss her, I remember it’s because she made me so happy. So I can celebrate her, and I can miss her at the same time.”

Garfield’s mother may be gone, but Elmo was there to give the 41-year-old actor some cuddles as he spoke these emotional truths — especially after Garfield revealed that Elmo was his mom’s favorite Muppet.

What Andrew said

During the conversation, Andrew began, “I’m just thinking about my mom today. She passed away not too long ago and you know, I just miss her a lot.” Andrew’s mother, Lynn Garfield, died from pancreatic cancer in 2019.

He added, “Sadness is kind of a gift. (It’s) kind of a lovely thing to feel in a way, because it means that you really loved somebody when you miss them. And when I miss someone, when I miss my mom, I remember all the cuddles I used to get from her. All the hugs I used to get from her. It makes me feel close to her when I miss her, in a strange sort of way.”

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When Elmo shared that he is thankful that the actor shared his feelings with such honesty and that he will keep Andrew’s mother in his thoughts, the actor smiled and added that it would be great since Elmo was her favourite Muppet.

Andrew will be seen with Florence Pugh in the rom-com We Live In Time, directed by the BAFTA-winning filmmaker John Crowley. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It follows the relationship of a couple over the course of a decade. It had a wide theatrical release from October 18.