Actor Andrew Garfield had a heart-to-heart conversation with Elmo about how much he misses his mom since her death from pancreatic cancer in 2019.
The subject of grief was featured on a recent episode of Sesame Street in which Garfield, 41, sat down with Elmo. The compassionate Muppet asked the actor how he was doing.
"You sure you wanna listen?" asked Garfield, to which Elmo replied, "I would love to listen."
Garfield paused to reflect and said:
"I'm just thinking about my mom today. You know, she passed away not too long ago."
"I just miss her a lot," he said as the two shared a heartfelt moment while sitting on the steps of a NY brownstone, a familiar setting seen in many episodes of the popular educational children's series.
When Elmo said he was "sorry" to hear about the loss, Garfield told him that he didn't have to apologize, and he shared an important lesson about dealing with loss.
"It's actually kind of okay to miss somebody," Garfield assured Elmo, and he said that the feeling of missing someone was "like a gift."
You can watch the segment here.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
The Amazing Spider-Man actor explained:
“You know, that sadness, it’s kind of a gift. It's kind of a lovely thing to feel in a way because it means you really loved somebody when you miss them."
"And when I miss someone, I remember. When I miss my mom, I remember all the cuddles I used to get from her. All the hugs I used to get from her."
Garfield continued:
"It makes me feel close to her when I miss her, in a strange way. So, I’m happy to have all the memories of my mom and all the joy she brought me."
"And the joy she brought my brother, and my dad, everyone she ever met, everyone around her."
He added:
"When I miss her, I remember it’s because she made me so happy. I can celebrate her and I can miss her at the same time.”
Elmo responded, saying, “Wow, Elmo really loves that, Andrew."
Garfield then let Elmo in on a little secret and whispered in his ear:
“Elmo was my mummy’s favorite!”
"Really?" exclaimed Elmo and asked for a hug from his buddy., telling him, "Elmo loves you, Andrew."
There was not a dry eye on the internet.
The British actor's mother, Lynn, died of pancreatic cancer while he was filming The Eyes of Tammy Faye in 2019.
Upon learning of his mother's grave condition, Garfield recalled the conversation he had before flying out to North Carolina to start production on Tammy Faye.
He told Variety:
“She said, ‘I would struggle with you not doing it on account of me.’ I told her, ‘OK, but promise me when it’s time to come home you’ll let me know."
When Lynn's condition worsened, Garfield was able to leave the shoot and travel to England to be by her side as she died.
In an interview on the Today Show, Garfield expressed his constant love for his late mother.
He told anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb:
“For me, grief is unexpressed love, and I’m never going to be able to express fully the love that I have for my mother, the gratitude that I have—that I got given the best mother around."
"It’s a never-ending (thing).”
Garfield is currently promoting his new film, We Live in Time, currently in theaters.
The dramedy touches on the topic of loss.
It follows the relationship of a couple, Tobias, played by Garfield, and Almut, played by Florence Pugh, who wind up building a romantic life together after their paths collide in a car accident.
The film chronicles their life together in flashbacks as they come to terms with Almut being diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer.
