Andrew Garfield Dresses in Drag for Arcade Fire's Moving 'We Exist' Video

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published 19 May 14

In Dallas Buyer's Club, we saw Jared Leto portray a cross-dressing AIDS patient with both grit and vulnerability. Now, Andrew Garfield, star of The Amazing Spiderman 2, has brought a similar portraiture to life in Arcade Fire's new video for their powerful ballad "We Exist." In it, Garfield sheds his macho, superhero image and transforms into a young man coming to terms with his sexual identity in an oppressive small town.

The video begins with Garfield shaving his head, putting on a blonde wig, and dressing up for a night out. He heads to a local watering hole, filled with local townies, grabs a drink, and admires an old couple slow dancing on their own. A man comes over, asks for a dance, and just as Garfield's begins to feel at ease, he's attacked by a group of men.

Fortunately, things take a happier turn when Garfield segues into a dreamy dance sequence, in which he and a troupe of men put on a choreographed routine inside the bar. At the end of the video, Garfield finds himself onstage with Arcade Fire during their live set at Coachella, ending the video on a truly euphoric high note.

Lauren Valenti

I’m the associate web editor at Marie Claire. I love to while away the hours at coffee shops, hunt for vintage clothes, and bask in the rough-and-tumble beauty of NYC. I firmly believe that solitude can be a luxury if you’ve got the right soundtrack—that being the Rolling Stones, of course.