‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ Star Andrew Garfield Reveals His Secret Instagram Account: “I’m as Addicted as Anybody”

Andrew Garfield has built a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most deliberately offline stars, never having maintained a public social media presence despite his decade-plus of fame. That absence has often been framed as evidence of genuine restraint, a rare celebrity who’s managed to sidestep the constant scroll that defines so much of modern digital life.

That image took an honest turn this week, as Garfield opened up about a habit he’s kept mostly private until now. Speaking with Variety while promoting his new film “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the actor revealed he does, in fact, maintain a secret Instagram account, one he uses regularly enough to leave him uneasy about how much of his life it’s quietly consumed.

Garfield didn’t hold back when describing just how deep that habit runs. “I’m as addicted as anybody. My screen time notifications are horrific to me. It’s like, I’ve given all of those hours to nothing,” he told Variety, adding, “It’s genuinely enraging because we don’t have as much control over these impulses as we should, and it’s been by design. It’s pretty dark when you look at it.”

As for what actually fills his feed, Garfield offered a surprisingly specific glimpse into his personal rabbit holes. He described his Instagram browsing habits as centered around “weird ceramics” and “lots of Japanese kind of craftspeople,” a fairly niche corner of the app for someone who could presumably follow anything he wanted.

This isn’t the first time Garfield has admitted to quietly maintaining a social media presence despite his public “no accounts” image. Speaking to the Associated Press back in March at the London premiere of “The Magic Faraway Tree,” he described what he called “creeper accounts,” explaining, “I don’t have social media… I have, like, creeper accounts in certain places,” while noting he has to stay “very, very disciplined” to keep himself from overusing them.

That earlier admission followed a moment where his “We Live in Time” co-star Florence Pugh appeared to accidentally expose his scrolling habits during a lighthearted joint interview, hinting he browses platforms like X despite publicly denying having any official presence there. Garfield quickly denied the specifics at the time, but the pattern of quiet acknowledgment followed by more detailed confessions has continued playing out across multiple interviews this year.

The timing of Garfield’s latest comments lines up with the themes running through “The Magic Faraway Tree” itself, an adaptation of Enid Blyton’s classic book series that leans directly into questions about technology and screen dependency. Garfield stars alongside Claire Foy as Tim and Polly, a London couple who relocate their tech-dependent family to the countryside, where their youngest daughter discovers a magical tree inhabited by elf-like creatures.

Garfield expanded on his broader feelings about phone addiction during the same Variety conversation, describing the near-universal urge to escape the device entirely. “I think we’ve all had the impulse to smash our phones or throw it into the forest or throw it into the sea because we know it’s taking our lives from us in some way,” he said, framing the compulsion as something baked deliberately into how these platforms are designed rather than a personal failing.

For an actor who’s spent years cultivating a reputation as one of the few major stars genuinely opting out of public social media, Garfield’s candor about his private scrolling habits offers a refreshingly honest counterpoint to that image. Given how openly he’s continued discussing the topic across multiple recent press stops, it’s clear this particular confession isn’t one he’s trying especially hard to walk back.

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