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Exclusive: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ stars reveal their reactions to Spidey’s costume

The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man

What would you do if you found yourself face-to-face with Spider-Man?

If you're Emma Stone, apparently you've just got to put your hands on him.

I sat down with Stone and her costar (and real-life beau) Andrew Garfield to talk about their upcoming movie, "The Amazing Spider-Man," and I asked them both their reactions to seeing Garfield in the full Spidey costume for the first time. Stone admitted that when she saw him in the suit, she got a bit handsy.

[Video: Exclusive 'Amazing Spider-Man' cast interview]

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone
Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone

"It was so tactile," Stone said, "I immediately was just touching him. Because you never expect to be in the room with Spider-Man, and the suit was just so well made and so beautiful."

Garfield answered that his reaction to seeing himself in the costume inspired a mix of feelings: "It was overwhelming, of course, and surreal, and you kind of can't believe it. And that kind of remained throughout, actually. I didn't quite believe it, that it was me in the suit." He went on to say that the feeling of disbelief helped ground him. He said, "I think if I started to believe it then I'd lose my mind a little."

[Related: Play the 'Amazing Spider-Man' online movie game]

Garfield explained that the process of designing the suit and tailoring it to fit him perfectly was an arduous four-month long task. He said, "I had to fly certain places to get certain body scans, and my body was changing because I was training."

Once it was finished, then the simple act of putting it on became its own ordeal. Garfield stated he had to be virtually shoehorned into the one-piece costume, which took about 20 minutes every time. But he felt that he was able to use the discomfort in his performance. He said, "It was really useful if in the scene I had to be stressed, because it was really stressful putting it on."

One element of the Spider-Man costume that makes it different from most superhero disguises is that it has a mask that completely covers the face. I asked Garfield if having his face concealed like that was inhibiting as an actor. He replied he found it to be the opposite. Garfield said, "It freed you up, more than inhibited, absolutely, because of the power of the mask."

Garfield drew a parallel to modern tech culture: "We all have contact with the power of anonymity on a daily basis now because of the internet. Being able to say and do anything and not be held accountable is powerful... You get to be whoever you want to be." Stone agreed that there was a certain charge to scenes where Garfield was behind the mask, saying "It's kind of exhilarating."

[Related: Get the Spider-Man Augmented Reality App]

To see more of what Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone had to say about the relationship between their characters Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, watch the exclusive video below. "The Amazing Spider-Man" opens July 3.

Watch trailers for 'The Amazing Spider-Man':

4-Minute Super Preview Theatrical Trailer 2 Theatrical Trailer Teaser Trailer