It’s been a good year for likeable movie couples. Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott set the TikTok algorithm ablaze in February with their silly interview shenanigans; Twisters duo Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell turned the heat up for summer blockbuster season; and now Cynthia Erivo’s weird, weird friendship with Ariana Grande has blossomed into a thousand memes just in time for Christmas. Our fave cinematic twosome, the best of the bunch, don’t hit UK cinemas until January 1 though.
Starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, We Live In Time is an emotional rollercoaster of a romcom. From meet-cute to fully fledged romance, we follow Weetabix salesman Tobias and high-flying chef Almut as they navigate the usual relationship problems (poor timing, differing goals), and others that are less common (international cooking competitions, running your prospective partner over with a hatchback). It’s funny, heartfelt stuff with a truly tearjerking ending – think Richard Curtis’ About Time but more realistic and not quite as corny.
So if you find yourself needing to sit in a darkened room on New Year’s Day (hello, hangover), head down to the cinema. But before you do that, get acquainted with Garfield and Pugh’s infectious, energetic chemistry with our handy interview. Read it below – or watch it above. We don’t mind which.
Hey guys, what’s it like to be the internet’s new fave on-screen couple – thanks to that viral horse meme, of course?
Andrew Garfield: “I want to see a version of our film [We Live In Time] now where we’re all horses.”
Florence Pugh: “You’re welcome.”
Florence, I watched an interview you gave where you spoke about your love of bed scenes…
AG: “Yeah you did sleep in one of our bed scenes…”
FP: “Which one?
AG: “In the early part of our relationship in your apartment? I think it was the scene where I’m trying to sneak out after our first night when we had some… corporeal intimacy, shall we say? [laughs].”
FP: “I like [bed scenes] because the only place I’m supposed to be [at that time] is on set and on my mark… It’s like when you’re a kid in bed and your parents are downstairs washing up – the little hum of life happening around you and it totally sends me off.”
AG: “Sometimes people who have very busy lives feel like that when they get on a plane – they can finally relax.”
Let’s talk about the scene where Andrew shaves your head, Florence – was that for real?
AG: “ I did it for real – and I’d never shaved another person’s head before. It was a great privilege to shave Florence [laughs]. She didn’t know [I’d never done it before] but she didn’t care.”
FP: “He was more nervous than I was, which was natural… My hair and makeup team took out some long bits that had been left afterwards.”
You left some long bits? Come on, Andrew…
AG: “Give me a break, it was my first time!”
Andrew, your character in We Live In Time works for Weetabix – what jobs did you do before acting?
AG: “I was a barista and I worked at Reiss, the clothing store. And I was fired from both of them.”
Why were you fired?
“I would sit down when there was no one in the store or when there was no one getting coffee – which happened a lot in the Kilburn Sainsbury’s Starbucks in 2005. This was 20 years ago. The coffee boom hadn’t happened yet. People didn’t know about Starbucks. I didn’t help the cause either because I sat down a lot.”
What about you Florence?
FP: “I worked in my dad’s restaurant. Actually, my first job was… he had sold one of his restaurants and we needed to sell the contents of the restaurant, the furniture. And so I was in charge of selling that. I was like, 10 or 11 years old – and lots of grown-up men were there saying things like: ‘All these chairs are actually worth a lot less money than you’re saying they are…’
“And then I worked at the deli and as a waiter at Wigmore Hall in west London… I would wait around for any old lady who I could tell wasn’t going to finish her food… and then I would take her plate and hide it in the kitchen for later.”
Last question, can each of you tell me about an album that you always go back to?
AG: “I’m listening to Chappell Roan right now, her latest album [‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’]. I listen to it back to front every morning. I just love it.”
FP: “I have too. And Rachel Chinouriri and Olivia Dean.”
‘We Live In Time’ is in UK and Irish cinemas from January 1