Andrew Garfield opened up about his experience working with the late Robert Redford on the 2007 film Lions for Lambs during an appearance on the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast released on September 29, 2026.
Garfield was 23 years old when he starred alongside Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise in the wartime drama, which Redford also directed.
He recalled feeling immensely nervous before filming his first major motion picture.
The initial anxiety quickly gave way to frustration when Redford arrived hours behind schedule for their first scene together.
"I’m terrified and nervous and pinching myself. Then Bob is four hours late, and it’s just like by that time I’m just pissed.
I’m just angry," Garfield said.
Despite the four-hour delay, Garfield noted that the veteran filmmaker's relaxed demeanor helped eliminate his remaining camera nerves once production officially began.
"A lot of the nerves had kind of dissipated because he was so loose and casual.
He still dressed like he was in his twenties with a double denim. He wasn’t aware that he was late.
He was just on his own Redford time. He was a beautiful, beautiful man – and very late all the time to everything," Garfield said.
Podcast host Amy Poehler reacted with humor to the story of the iconic actor's chronic tardiness during the broadcast.
"Well, God is fair – I mean, he’s so handsome there’s got to be something wrong with him," Poehler said.
Garfield emphasized that Redford fostered an inclusive creative atmosphere on set, frequently checking in with the young actor after filming takes to seek his input.
"He would shoot himself, and then he would look at me after his first take, and he’d be like, 'What do you think?'"
Garfield said.
Garfield expressed gratitude for how the director treated him as a full peer despite his lack of feature film experience at the time.
"And I was like, 'It’s great. Really good, Robert Redford.'
He made me feel like it was my set and made me feel like I was an equal and like he knew it was my first movie.
He was so nice. He was so beautiful," Garfield said.
During the interview, Garfield also highlighted Redford's philanthropic contributions, pointing to the origin of the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival.
"So, first of all, Bob Redford, God rest his beautiful soul of service. That man had a soul for service.
Like, what he did with Sundance [Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival] and like and what that sprung from, came out of him, I think, helping out his new neighbor in Utah who was about to be foreclosed on.
He's like, 'I'll buy your farm so you can keep it.
I'm going to have to make some money out of it, and we'll set up like a lab for young filmmakers.
So it came out of him helping out his neighbor. It's just like he was a beautiful, beautiful man.
And very late all the time to everything. So I say it with love.
So I'm like, yeah, terrified and nervous and pinching myself, and then Bob is four hours late. And it's just like, by that time, I'm just pissed.
I'm just angry [Laughing]," Garfield said.
Garfield further reflected on Redford's signature casual style and well-known personal habits during their collaboration.
"But a lot of the nerves had kind of dissipated because he was so loose and casual, and he was so cool.
He still dressed like he was in his 20s with a double denim, and he wasn't aware that he was late.
He was just like on his own Redford time. And he was famously late.
I'm not like telling tales out of school. He was like a famously late person," Garfield said.
Redford passed away in September 2025 at the age of 89 at his home in Utah, as announced by publicist Cindi Berger.
