Andrew Garfield will receive the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 2027 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, adding a major career tribute to a season already bringing acclaim for his performance as Sam Altman in Artificial.

The festival announced Tuesday that the two-time Academy Award nominee will join film critic Leonard Maltin for an onstage conversation on February 6. The event will look back at Garfield’s career and his work across film, television and theater.

“Andrew Garfield has long since proven himself to critics and audiences alike. It’s no simple matter to balance a career between mainstream Hollywood movies and challenging director-driven projects, but he has done exactly that and done it well,” Maltin said.

The tribute will take place during the 42nd Santa Barbara Film Festival, which is scheduled to run February 3-11, 2027.

A Landmark Honor With Three Decades of History

Established in 1995, the Modern Master Award recognizes an individual whose achievements in the motion picture industry have enriched the culture. It was renamed the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 to honor Maltin, a longtime moderator at the festival.

Garfield joins a group of previous recipients that includes Adam Sandler, Angelina Jolie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Robert Downey Jr., Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney and Christopher Plummer.

The award’s history also includes filmmakers Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Sean Penn, Clint Eastwood and Peter Jackson.

Garfield’s selection follows the recent New York Film Festival premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial. The film, which tells the story of OpenAI and a two-decade artificial intelligence arms race, features Garfield as Altman. Neon will release it theatrically on Christmas Day.

From Oscar-Nominated Roles to Spider-Man

The tribute gives the festival a substantial body of work to explore. Garfield earned his first Oscar nomination for playing World War II medic Desmond Doss in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge. His second came for his portrayal of composer Jonathan Larson in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom!

That performance also brought Garfield the Golden Globe for Best Actor — Musical or Comedy. He previously received a Golden Globe nomination for David Fincher’s The Social Network.

His film credits also include Martin Scorsese’s Silence, Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go and John Crowley’s We Live in Time, in which he appeared opposite Florence Pugh.

Garfield worked with Guadagnino on After the Hunt, appearing opposite Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri. He also played Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man films before reprising the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. His most recent movie, Paul Greengrass’ The Uprising, was released last month.

His work beyond film could also provide plenty of material for the February conversation. Garfield received an Emmy nomination for the FX limited series Under the Banner of Heaven.

Onstage, he won a Tony Award for playing Prior Walter in the Broadway revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. He also earned a Tony nomination for Death of a Salesman.

ShowBiz Take

The timing of the Santa Barbara honor connects a career retrospective with a prominent new performance. Rather than recognizing Garfield for a single role, the Maltin Modern Master Award reflects a résumé that moves between large-scale Hollywood productions and filmmaker-led projects, as well as acclaimed television and stage work.

That range is central to Maltin’s assessment of Garfield and helps explain why the festival has chosen him for an award previously presented to performers and filmmakers across multiple generations. The February event will allow Garfield to discuss those choices while Artificial remains his latest high-profile showcase.

What Happens Next?

Before the Santa Barbara tribute, Artificial is set to open in theaters through Neon on Christmas Day. Garfield is also due to appear opposite Jude Law in Apple TV’s limited series Wild Things, which is about Siegfried & Roy.

His Maltin Modern Master conversation will follow on February 6, during the Santa Barbara festival’s February 3-11, 2027 run.