Joe Jonas Revealed He Auditioned For Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man
He went in for callbacks and everything.
In another Spider-Verse, it would’ve been Joe Jonas coming through that portal in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The JoBro recently revealed he came close to playing Peter Parker in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and admitted to feeling “destroyed” when the superhero role instead went to Andrew Garfield. He may not be burnin’ up about the missed opportunity anymore, but at the time, it was a difficult moment for Jonas.
Reflecting on his acting career, Jonas opened up about one of the most heartbreaking casting decisions he’s experienced on the Nov. 23 episode of Variety’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “I remember years ago I was up for Spider-Man and I was so, so excited,” Jonas said. “It was the year Andrew Garfield got it. Obviously, he was the right one.”
Though Jonas can now admit Garfield was the right choice, he was pretty confident he had the role on lock during the audition process. “I remember that was a big thing at the time, going back for callbacks, and the director used to be a music video director. So I was like, ‘I got an in here.’” True enough, The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb was well known in the 2000s for directing music videos for some of the biggest pop stars, including contemporaries of the Jonas Brothers like Miley Cyrus, Hilary Duff, and Jesse McCartney.
But that connection didn’t pay off, and Garfield instead swung into mainstream success as the star of 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
At the time of the auditions, Jonas was still best known as a singer, and his only major acting credits were in Disney Channel’s Camp Rock movies and his short-lived Disney series with his brothers, Jonas. He admitted losing out on the Spider-Man part was hard for him. “In the moment, you’re destroyed or you’re defeated,” Jonas said. “But you realize [the person who got the part] was brilliant. But you know what? I love the process of auditioning and putting yourself out there and having to prove yourself. It should never be a shoo-in for anyone.”
Interestingly enough, that wasn’t the first time Jonas tried to break into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He and his older brother Kevin both auditioned to star in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger as Captain America, but of course that role went to Chris Evans instead.
While his superhero dreams may not have come true, Jonas did eventually get to flex his acting chops. His most serious role yet arrived in 2022’s Devotion, the true story of a group of American fighter pilots. So while he may not have gotten to swing across the city on spiderwebs, Jonas did finally get his chance to soar in a major movie.
