5 interesting facts about our OG Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire
People love Tobey Maguire. Proof? The thumping reception his Spider-Man: No Way Home entry scene got. The reticent star isn't even active on social media. After starring in The Great Gatsby, Maguire completely went underground. He reactivated his Twitter account last February, after eight years, and we now know why (his No Way Home cameo). Let's explore 5 interesting facts about this enigmatic man.
When he was in his sixth grade, Maguire wanted to be a chef. He even asked his mother to sign a form where it was mentioned that home economics will be one of his core subjects. The twist came when his mother, Wendy Brown, bribed him into taking drama classes. She offered him $100 per class and he agreed. The rest is history!
Did you know Maguire was being considered for the pivotal role of Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl? Heath Ledger, Ewan McGregor, Ben Peyton, and Christian Bale were also short-listed but the role eventually went to Orlando Bloom, who never had to look back. Maguire instead chose to do Seabiscuit, which had received seven Oscar nods.
Maguire, who played the favorite web-slinger hero across three films, had never read the Spider-Man comics. He took up the role because he loved the script, said reports. By signing up the sequels, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, he secured a lucrative $26mn paycheck. To be Peter Parker, Maguire followed a rigid five-month regimen and ate high-protein diet four-six times a day.
The California-born actor went full vegan in 2009. Before that, he took up vegetarianism. Giving up meat wasn't tough for him as he didn't like it even as a child. "It's never really been that hard for me. I've never had any desire to eat meat. In fact, when I was a kid I'd have a difficult time eating meat," he had shared once.
The actor is a champion poker player and had organized high-stakes poker games for Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck, along with writer Houston Curtis. It's estimated that Maguire won $30-40 million from those. His inclination for poker also invited a lawsuit, which demanded him to pay thousands of dollars that he had won in secret high-stakes games in Beverly Hills luxury hotels.
