 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 . " 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.Max Charles portrayed Peter Parker as a 4 @-@ year @-@ old . 
