Tobey Maguire

Tobias Vincent Maguire (born 27 June 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for starring as Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), a role he later reprised in '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021).

Maguire was born in Los Angeles and began his career in supporting roles. His breakthrough role was as Spider-Man in the 2002 film of the same name. He reprised the role in the sequels, ''Spider-Man 2'' (2004) and ''Spider-Man 3'' (2007). Maguire would expand his career with dramatic roles in ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' The Good German'' (2006), and ''The Great Gatsby'' (2013). He would also start producing films, including ''25th Hour'' (2002) and ''Seabiscuit''.

Maguire received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for war drama ''Brothers'' (2009). He established his own production company in 2012 called Material Pictures, and co-produced ''Good People'' (2012), '' Pawn Sacrifice'' (2014), and ''Babylon'' (2022).

Early life

Tobias Vincent Maguire was born on 27 June 1975, in Santa Monica, California, to Wendy Brown and Vincent Maguire. His parents were 18 and 20 respectively when he was born, and divorced when he was 3 years old. Maguire described his childhood as tough and lonely, with his father Vincent being convicted of robbing a bank in 1993. His parents married shortly after his birth but separated when he was two years old, and Maguire spent much of his childhood living with various family members and moved around often. Maguire grew up poor.

During his childhood, Maguire entertained the idea of becoming a chef and wanted to enroll in a home economics class as a sixth grader. His mother offered him $100 to take a drama class instead, and he agreed. The transient nature of his school years began to take a toll on Maguire emotionally, and after another relocation for his freshman year, he dropped out of high school and did not return. Instead, he pursued an acting career. In his teenage years, Maguire suffered from drug abuse and alcoholism.

Career

1989–1995: Early career

Maguire's first appearance in a feature film was in '' The Wizard'' (1989) as an extra. He was cast as the lead in the FOX TV series '' Great Scott!'' in 1992, which was canceled nine weeks after premiere.

Maguire met fellow child actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1980s while auditioning for the same roles. The pair would become close friends. For example, both auditioned for the same part in the 1990 TV series based on the 1989 comedy '' Parenthood''. DiCaprio was cast, and Maguire later got a guest role at least partly on DiCaprio's recommendation. The same scenario played out during casting for the 1993 movie '' This Boy's Life'' (featuring Robert De Niro as the lead): DiCaprio got the main role of teenager Tobias "Toby" Wolff, and Maguire got a part as one of his friends.

1995–2001: Critical acclaim

Maguire then sought help for a drinking problem from Alcoholics Anonymous; he has been sober ever since.

As part of his recovery from alcoholism and learning to deal with his self-described "addictive and compulsive nature", Maguire changed his career path slightly to obtain roles where he and DiCaprio would not always be in competition for the same part. The move paid off when Maguire was given the role of Paul Hood, a teenage boarding school student whose narration anchors the action in Ang Lee's 1997 film '' The Ice Storm.'' This led to a variety of lead roles in films such as '' Pleasantville'', '' The Cider House Rules'', and '' Wonder Boys''.

In the 1998 film '' Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' he portrayed a hitchhiker who meets Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo during their drive to Las Vegas. In '' Ride with the Devil'' (1999), opposite Jewel Kilcher, Maguire portrayed Jakob Roedel, the son of a unionist German immigrant who joins his Southern friends in the Missouri Riders, avenging the atrocities committed against Missourians by Kansas Jayhawkers and redleggers. Maguire voiced Lou in the movie '' Cats & Dogs'' (2001).

2002–2013: ''Spider-Man'' and stardom

In 2002, Maguire starred in ''Spider-Man'', based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. The film was a major success and made him a star. He reprised the role in the sequels ''Spider-Man 2'' (2004) and ''Spider-Man 3'' (2007), and also voiced Spider-Man for the video game adaptations of the films.

His performance as Spider-Man earned him glowing reviews. Mark Caro of the ''Chicago Tribune'' wrote that, "with his big, round, soulful eyes, Maguire always has been able to convey a sense of wonder, and his instinct for understatement also serves him well here." Due to script and production complications, a proposed fourth ''Spider-Man'' movie did not materialize. Sony's Columbia Pictures decided to reboot the franchise. The film, titled ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', was released on 3 July 2012, with a different actor, Andrew Garfield, playing the lead.

Maguire had a lead role as the jockey John M. "Red" Pollard in ''Seabiscuit'', about the famous racehorse Seabiscuit. In 2006, he starred in his first villainous role as Corporal Patrick Tully opposite George Clooney and Cate Blanchett in Steven Soderbergh's '' The Good German'', based on the Joseph Kanon novel of the same name.

Maguire is also a producer whose production credits include ''25th Hour'' (2002), ''Whatever We Do'' (2003), and ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), for which he served as executive producer. In 2008, he made a cameo appearance in the action comedy film ''Tropic Thunder'' as a gay 18th century monk in love with Father O'Malley, played by Robert Downey Jr. in the faux trailer for ''Satan's Alley''. He was a last-minute replacement in the role, and due to previously scheduled commitments was only available to be on set for two hours to film his scenes. Near the end of ''Tropic Thunder'', it is revealed that Maguire's character has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for ''Satan's Alley'', which award he loses to Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) for his role in ''Tropic Blunder'', presented by Kirk Lazarus.

In 2009, Maguire starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman in the Jim Sheridan-directed war drama ''Brothers'' as Sam Cahill, a prisoner of war who returns from Afghanistan and starts believing that his wife has become romantically involved with his brother. He received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film. Of the nomination, Maguire said, "I had no expectation about getting a nomination, but I was watching nonetheless. My wife and my son got really excited. I was sort of surprised – I was like, 'Oh, wow.' And I couldn't hear the latter part of my name." Maguire lost to Jeff Bridges for his role in '' Crazy Heart''. Maguire was set to star as The Writer in ''Life of Pi'' (2012), directed by Ang Lee, but was cut from the film during production for being "too famous" compared to the rest of the cast. He was replaced by Rafe Spall, with whom Lee reshot the scenes that had already been shot with Maguire.

In 2012, Maguire was a co-producer of '' Good People''. That same year, he also established his own production company, Material Pictures, which secured independent financing in 2013 to help it produce more feature films. Maguire and DiCaprio once again performed together in Baz Luhrmann's remake of ''The Great Gatsby'' (2013); DiCaprio played the title role, while Maguire played the story's narrator, Nick Carraway.

2014–present: Reduced output

His next film, '' Pawn Sacrifice'' (2014), was also co-produced by Material Pictures. It was a Cold War thriller based on the true story of American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer, played by Maguire. The film details the events leading up to and including the world chess championship in 1972, when Fischer challenges Soviet chess grandmaster and world champion Boris Spassky, acted by Liev Schreiber. The film received mostly positive reviews.

Maguire reunited with Alec Baldwin after '' Cats & Dogs'' (2001) in the animated movie '' The Boss Baby'' (2017), where he voiced the adult version of Tim Templeton. He also reprised his role as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021) alongside successors Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield. He appeared in Damien Chazelle's ensemble film ''Babylon'', also serving as an executive producer. He reprised his role as Spider-Man in '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' through archive footage.

Personal life

Maguire has been a vegetarian since 1992; in 2009, he became a vegan. He has made changes in his diet to either gain or lose weight for film roles: he dramatically decreased his calorie intake for ''Seabiscuit'', followed by a rapid increase to regain weight for ''Spider-Man 2''. Maguire has been sober since age 19, having experienced "some difficulty" with alcohol in his late teens.

Maguire met jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer in 2003 while he was shooting ''Seabiscuit'' at Universal Studios, and they became engaged in April 2006. Their daughter was born in November that year. Meyer's father, Universal studios head Ronald Meyer, reportedly helped Maguire regain his job after being fired from ''Spider-Man 2'' in 2003. Maguire and Meyer married on 3 September 2007, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Their second child, a son, was born in May 2009. On 18 October 2016, the couple announced their separation after nine years of marriage. In 2020, Meyer filed for divorce after four years of separation.

Poker

In 2004, Maguire took up tournament poker. He has finished in the money in several events and has been tutored by poker professional Daniel Negreanu. Maguire was seen on ESPN's coverage of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship. He was one of many celebrities, along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck, who participated in Molly Bloom's high-stake poker games at The Viper Room in the mid-2000s, and received negative press coverage for allegedly demanding Bloom "bark like a seal" for a $1,000 poker chip after a tournament he won. Maguire's actions at the game, as well as those of other celebrities, are portrayed by Michael Cera in the film '' Molly's Game'' through the composite character "Player X".

Awards and nominations

See also

* '' Maguimithrax'', a spider crab named after Maguire
* '' Filistata maguirei'', a spider named after Maguire
* Bully Maguire

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maguire, Tobey
1975 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
California Democrats
Male actors from Santa Monica, California
Film producers from California
American people of Scottish descent
American people of German descent
American people of Austrian descent
American people of English descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Puerto Rican descent