‘Spider-Man’ Actor Andrew Garfield, 38, Opens Up About His Mother's Battle With Cancer; How to Cope With Losing a Loved One

Lynn was a woman he described as "the purest angel"; she even handmade her son a Spider-Man costume out of felt when he was 3 years old, not knowing that 25 years later, he would be sporting the superhero's official suit on the big screen.

Garfield told Variety that he resisted leaving for North Carolina to film Tammy Faye, but his mother encouraged him to go.

"She said, 'I would struggle with you not doing it on account of me.' I told her, 'OK, but promise me when it's time to come home you'll let me know,'" Garfield tells Variety.

In late 2019, news of Lynn's looming death from cancer began to circulate; Garfield was then sent back to England to be with his mother during her final weeks.

"The good news about me and her is that we left nothing unsaid," Garfield tells Variety. "We had all the quality time we could possibly have while she was here; and those last two weeks I got to be with her were probably the most profound two weeks of my life. To be with her and my dad and my brother, all of her friends, my nephews. It was full of grace in the midst of the terrible tragedy."

Later on, he tells Variety how he honored his late mother with another one of his upcoming roles playing Rent creator Jonathan Larson in the movie musical Tick, Tick … Boom!

"I can feel her smiling at that," Garfield says. "She was someone who was taken arguably too soon, even though we don’t get to decide. There are certain things you can’t control. What I started to understand through her loss is that we’re all leaving with a half-finished song."

Losing a Parent to Cancer: Therapy Can Help

Camila Legaspi, like Garfield, lost her mother to cancer. Camila's mother died of breast cancer, and the experience of watching her mother face the illness took a big toll on her, she tells SurvivorNet during a previous interview; having a parent go through cancer, especially at a young age, is incredibly challenging for the whole family.

Once her mother, Gabriela, died, Camila decided to start seeing a therapist. She tells us that having someone there to talk to made a "huge difference," and helped her to appreciate all the great things she still had in her life, even though her mother was no longer with her.

"Therapy Saved My Life": After Losing A Loved One, Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help

"Embrace the situation as best as you can, because the reality is … that it sucks," Camila says.

There are many different ways to cope with grief; it looks different for everyone. But Camila recommends that anyone going through a similar situation and dealing with loss should reach out for help if they need it it's OK to not be OK, she says. It’s what works best for her, and could be what works for you, too, if you are finding yourself in a similar situation.

"Therapy saved my life," she tells SurvivorNet. "I was dealing with some really intense anxiety and depression at that point. It just changed my life because I was so drained by all the negativity that was going on. Going to a therapist helped me realize that there was still so much out there for me."

"The reality is when you lose someone, it's really, really, really hard. … It's totally OK to talk to someone, and I'm so happy that I talked to my therapist."

Related: Taking on Cancer With Grace and Humor Siblings Reflect on Their Mom's Strength as She Faced Breast Cancer

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