Andrew Garfield says he missed out on Narnia role because he wasn’t ‘handsome enough’

Andrew Garfield has claimed he missed out on landing a part in The Chronicles of Narnia because he wasn’t “handsome enough”.

The Tick Tick... Boom! star admitted he was “so desperate” to play Prince Caspian in the 2008 fantasy sequel that he became “obsessed” when the part went to fellow Brit Ben Barnes.

Recalling the experience, Garfield, 39, told Entertainment Tonight: “I remember I was so desperate. I auditioned for Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia, and I thought, ‘This could be it, this could be it’.

“And that handsome, brilliant actor Ben Barnes ended up getting the role. I think it was down to me and him, and I remember I was obsessed.”

Upset that he missed out on the part, the Spiderman actor admitted that after much “nagging”, his agent told him exactly why he wasn’t cast.

He shared: “Why not me? She eventually just broke under my incessant nagging and she was, like, ‘It’s because they don’t think you’re handsome enough, Andrew’.

“Ben Barnes is a very handsome, talented man so, in retrospect, I’m not unhappy with the decision and I think he did a beautiful job.”

Despite missing out on the part, the Breathe star picked up a television Bafta for his role in Boy A in 2007 and then was catapulted into the spotlight playing Spiderman in The Amazing Spiderman in 2012 and its sequel.

Since then, Garfield has won a Tony and Golden Globe and has been nominated for two Oscars for his portrayals in Tick, Tick… Boom! and Hacksaw Ridge.

Elsewhere, the actor revealed the “societal” pressure he has felt to marry and have children before turning 40.

Garfield admitted that he has struggled to accept that his life was going down a “different path” in a November interview with British GQ.

The Oscar-nominated star reflected: “Releasing myself from the societal obligation of procreating by the time I’m 40 has been an interesting thing to do with myself… where do I start with why it didn’t happen?

“It’s more about accepting a different path than what was kind of expected of me from birth. Like, by this time you will have done this, and you will have at least one child - that kind of thing.

“I think I have some guilt around that. And, obviously, it’s easier for me as a man...”