Andrew Garfield Was Guillermo Del Toro's First 'Frankenstein' Choice — Why Did He Leave the Project?

The heart and soul of Frankenstein reside in The Creature. The unconventional hero, portrayed by Jacob Elordi in the Netflix movie, was originally set to be played by Andrew Garfield. However, plans in the Hollywood industry are almost never set in stone.

Why did Andrew drop out of Frankenstein? Here's what we know about the reasons behind the change. A classic story comes to life in an entirely different way, and in hindsight, it's funny to think of an alternate version featuring the Social Network star as the quintessential monster.

A report from Digital Spy states that Andrew left Frankenstein due to scheduling conflicts. The entertainment industry has been hit by a wide variety of challenges in the past decade. One of them was the massive strike organized by SAG-AFTRA, the union that is meant to protect on-screen performances.

If a strike of that magnitude occurs in Hollywood, it can shut down almost every production with cameras rolling. Back in 2023, Frankenstein was one of the titles affected.

Netflix attempts to have its movies and television series ready to arrive on schedule. When the SAG-AFTRA strike came to an end, it was time for Guillermo Del Toro and his team to continue working on the Mary Shelley adaptation.

Once a production shifts into focus, the streaming platform needs to make sure that everyone is available to spend months of their life working on a single story. Unfortunately, that was no longer the case for Andrew.

Jacob is one of Hollywood's top rising stars. The Euphoria actor is known for challenging himself with bigger and better roles. When the opportunity to star in Frankenstein presented itself, Jacob jumped at the chance to work with an Academy Award winner.

The success of Frankenstein can't be denied. The adaptation's score on Rotten Tomatoes proved that critics fell in love with Guillermo's take on the timeless classic.

Guillermo loves to update people on his projects through his social media accounts. The director revealed that filming for Frankenstein came to an end in September 2024, after cameras started rolling back in February of that year.

Sometimes, Hollywood schedules fail to line up. Screen Daily reports that Andrew was working on The Magic Faraway Tree and After the Hunt during the time period in which filming for Frankenstein was taking place.

There isn't an explicit connection between any of these particular projects and Andrew's absence from Frankenstein. However, it's important to point out that those were the productions the star was tackling while Jacob became The Creature.

Frankenstein is available for streaming on Netflix. Time will tell if Andrew is ready to tackle another blockbuster story after his Spider-Man days. In the meantime, fans can enjoy Jacob's transformation into Mary Shelley's icon over and over again in the comfort of their homes.