British actor Andrew Garfield has shared that the music of late Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti inspired his portrayal of Spider-Man. He mentioned that Fela's music influenced the character’s movements and sense of justice.
Garfield talked about this in a video on YouTube from the Track-star-show, called "Testing Andrew Garfield’s Music Knowledge," which our correspondent saw on Tuesday.
He explained that he makes playlists for each character he plays and started listening to Fela’s music when he took on the Spider-Man role. He said that Fela’s sound and rhythm helped him connect with the character both physically and emotionally.
"I create a playlist for every character I play, which is a lovely fun thing to do anyway. So I started listening to Fela Kuti when I first got Spider-Man, and there was something about the sound and the rhythm that was really useful to me for that character," he said.
Garfield revealed that Fela’s revolutionary spirit and music helped him dive into the character’s physicality and dedication to justice. He said, "There was something about suddenly being in touch with the body, but also justice-seeking, because obviously he was a revolutionary figure."
He added that the way he moved while playing Spider-Man was influenced by Fela's music. "And the way that I moved in that film, in the suit, has some inspiration from Fela and his music," Garfield stated.
The actor spoke about the strength he felt from Fela’s music and wanted to bring that energy into his superhero role. "I was like, I don’t know what it is about this guy’s power that I want to somehow reflect in this guy’s power," he said.
The song featured during this segment was Fela’s "Water No Get Enemy," a track from his 1975 album "Expensive Shit."
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