A teenager struggling to find his place in life ever since his parents disappeared when he was a child. A spider bites him on the back of his neck, giving him spider-powers. He becomes Spider-Man. Garfield described Parker as someone he can relate to and stated that the character had been an important influence on him since he was little. Garfield drew from his life experiences as inspiration for the role, revealing, "I was thinking of my history and thinking of the kid at school who I wasn't as strong as, who behaved badly to a lot of people – including myself – and who I constantly tried to stand up to but never had the physical prowess to". Discussing his predecessor, Garfield said he respects Tobey Maguire as an actor and that when he first saw Maguire play Spider-Man he "was blown away by his interpretation."[10] Garfield said in interviews, including one in which he was interviewed by Maguire, that when he watched the film Spider-Man when he was younger, he would jokingly recite Maguire's lines in the mirror with a friend who joked that he would never be Spider-Man. On accepting the role Garfield explained, "I see it as a massive challenge in many ways... To make it authentic. To make the character live and breathe in a new way. The audience already has a relationship with many different incarnations of the character. I do, as well. I'm probably going to be the guy in the movie theater shouting abuse at myself. But I have to let that go. No turning back. And I wouldn't want to. After taking the role, Garfield studied the movements of athletes and spiders and tried to incorporate them, saying Parker is "a boy/spider in terms of how he moves, and not just in the suit.He did yoga and Pilates for the role in order to be as flexible as possible.When first wearing his costume Garfield admitted to shedding tears and trying to imagine "a better actor in the suit, which he described as "uncomfortable" and admitted to wearing nothing beneath it since it is skintight. When filming Garfield explained that he had four months of training and described his physical roles on stunts as terribly challenging and exhausting.