Emmanuel Itier: How do you handle being a good guy and a dark guy in this movie?

Tobey Maguire: First of all, I don´t really look at it like a good guy or a bad guy, although he does make some choices that I think are going to be a little shocking for people, and fans will be surprised at Peter going down that road. This is something Sam (the director) and I worked a lot on because we don´t want to lose the audience caring for the character, but we do want to push it. We don´t want to make it too scary; we want it to be dark but still have some humor and some fun with it, so we´re constantly working on the exact tone of it. I had a lot of fun doing it as an actor. There´s a different side of Peter Parker.

EI: Do you ever think about life after “Spider Man”?

TM: Well, first of all, if I don´t want to do more movies, I don´t have to do any more movies, so that´s up to me, which wasn´t necessarily up to me before this film because I was contracted to three of them. I´ve had a great time doing them; I´ve enjoyed it, and I´m glad I´ve done all three movies. We may make more of them or a fourth one, if there´s a story worth telling and a right team of actors and Sam is on board, then I would consider doing a fourth one.

EI: How did “Spider Man” change your life?

TM: A lot of things changed in my life. I can´t exactly attribute certain things in my life to that. I think everything affects everything, but certainly I´m more recognized. At first, I was a little less comfortable with it. It was a little harder for me to function normally publicly. But really, I´ve just gotten more comfortable with it, and I don´t really sweat it as much anymore.

EI: How would you react if a girl said no to marrying you?

TM: I just couldn´t imagine! It just wouldn´t happen to me! (Laughs) Maybe I would be careful and make sure what I knew the answer would be before I asked.

EI: What about the ring in the movie? I heard it was made by your fiancé.

TM: She made the locket. Kirsten wears the little heart locket in the movie and she made that. She didn´t make the ring.

EI: What do you think is the theme behind this movie? It seems to be revenge…

TM: Yeah, I think vengeance, forgiveness… there´s the big theme of the franchise: “With great power comes great responsibility,” which I think is a blanket idea. Peter is learning lessons in each movie–they may be slightly different lessons, but they can all fall under that umbrella. I think there are a lot of themes running through the film, and it all depends on what you get from it, I guess.

EI: There are three villains in this film–and maybe even four, including you, the dark side. Did you have a favorite?

TM: Including me, I would probably have to say me.

EI: Did you like playing the villain?

TM: I had a good time doing that. It was more of an internal battle. Building his story arc was fun in terms of the villains outside of myself. I think they are all so different and I appreciate them for what they are. Sandman was a villain from the comic books that I always wanted to see in a “Spiderman” movie. I was really excited about that. I think we tied him into Peter´s storyline very well. Terry Osborne–that was the cliffhanger from the second movie. That one was probably the most emotional.

EI: Do you have a mean, wild side like your character?

TM: I don´t know. I guess you have to ask that question to people who know me personally. I´m a whole person, so I´ve got all kinds of stuff going on. I don´t necessarily present it to the press.

EI: Is there a significance of Peter Parker getting rid of the dark suit in a church?

TM: The setting, we felt, would be dramatic and would have certain weight, but I don´t think anybody thought it would have a specific comment.

EI: Are you going to take a break from acting now that you´re a father?

TM: I want to work, and I also love being Dad, so I´m going to figure it out as I go and try to figure the right balance. I did kind of clear out my schedule right when she was born for a little bit so I could be really present, and I´m away from the house now working, so you just have to find a good balance.

EI: You don´t look very tired for a new father! Are you sleeping well?

TM: Yeah, I´m sleeping pretty well. At first it was really tough. I feel good. I´m so used to not getting tons of sleep that, to me, it´s not even a big deal. It was at first, I´ve got to say. It was a really big deal, but she´s starting to sleep more in bigger chunks.

EI: How did you deal with fights in this movie?

TM: I had more fights in this movie. I had to do more because there´s more with my face there, but it wasn´t really outside of the boundaries from what I´ve done before. This was more of the same type of stuff. For some of it, I could just show up and I´d be able to do it, and for other stuff, I would do rehearsals before hand.

EI: Is it hard getting back into “Spiderman” shape?

TM: It´s a lot of work and I´ve said to myself, I don´t want to do the extreme thing that I´ve done in the past, which is like work out really hard. You know, train like a boxer trains for a few months and then after your fight or after your show, you just completely let go, which is what I´ve done in the past. I don´t think it´s very healthy for me physically or psychologically, so I just want to maintain a balance. So I´m not going to the extremes.

EI: Was it a conscious decision to show more of your face than in the others?

TM: I´ve always told them it was more of a good idea to show my face! (Laughs) We like to connect with the character. If you go away too long from Peter Parker, you could create emotional distance from the character and what he´s going through, so it´s a balance of delivering the iconic image and hooking into the character.

EI: Are we going to expect more romance with Mary Jane and Peter Parker?

TM: There´s lots of romance in the movie, definitely. It´s been a key element in both 1 and 2, and in 3. Their relationship is the heart of the movie.

EI: Are you romantic?

TM: I think I´m romantic. I like to be thoughtful. I like surprises and to create them, and to pay attention.

EI: What´s the most romantic thing you´ve ever done for a woman?

TM: I already went further than I wanted to go with that last question! Now you´re pushing me deeper, I can´t take it! (Laughs)

EI: Okay, what is one of the romantic things you´ve done?

TM: Are you rephrasing the question? I don´t know. I don´t want to talk about this stuff.

EI: Do you think there´s a lot of pressure on men to come up with the right proposal? Do we expect too much as women?

TM: No. For me, going into that, I wanted to make it memorable, you know… sweet and important and special, and all that stuff. I don´t think it´s that hard–you´ve just got to pay attention and be creative.

EI: How difficult is it for an actor to play a superhero, a romantic, a villain… ?

TM: It sounds more complex that it feels like when I play him. I don´t know.

EI: You´re 32 and you still have a boyish face. Is that a hindrance in your career?

TM: I think definitely. I look however old I look, and that´s going to exclude me from certain parts and give me the opportunity to do other parts. I don´t feel like it´s been a hindrance in any way so far. I do think that, historically, the meatier roles are for people in their 30s and 40s, so in that way, I have that to look forward to it. But I feel very fortunate with the films I´ve gotten to work on.

EI: Do you feel the pressure because this was such an expensive movie to make?

TM: I don´t even know how much this movie cost! I´m just trying to make a good movie.

EI: When did you become aware of how important this movie was to so many people around the world?

TM: I guess I was aware of that during the release of the first movie. I knew, leading up to the release, what the expectations were because they do tracking and test audiences. I knew then it was going to have a big opening weekend. I knew from the activity on the Internet.

EI: Would you like your daughter to enter the industry?

TM: Well, she´s three and a half months old, so not for a while. She can do whatever she wants to do.