'The Amazing Spider-Man' stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are masters of comic (book) timing

Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield give the Daily News a rare interview about the making of 'The Amazing Spider-Man', reliving high school and the best part about living in New York

Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in 'The Amazing Spider-Man'

On-screen chemistry isn’t an exact science, even for Peter Parker.

Director Mark Webb and the producers of “The Amazing Spider-Man,” opening Tuesday, knew that all the CGI-infused fight sequences, 3-D camera tricks and heart-pounding stunts wouldn’t mean a thing if they didn’t find the perfect Peter and an equally perfect Gwen Stacy, Peter’s true love from the original 1960s Marvel comic books.

The already-risky rebooting of the successful Tobey Maguire/Kirsten Dunst franchise from 2002-2007 could have been an experiment gone awry had the casting not clicked. But it proved to be a winning formula once British stage veteran Andrew Garfield, 28, and comedy alumna Emma Stone, 23, emerged from an international casting search.


Webb compares the way Garfield and Stone play off each other in an awkward high school hallway scene to ’50s comic duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May.

That playful, rapid-fire back-and-forth was on display when the stars of “The Amazing Spider-Man” — now a couple off-screen as well — recently sat down for an exclusive interview with the Daily News.

Daily News: So, this movie plunks Peter Parker back to his high school days. Emma, even though you were home-schooled, between this movie, “Easy A” and “Superbad,” you can’t seem to graduate, even though you’re now 23.

Emma Stone: I know, are you kidding me?! But as long as they cast me in high school, I’ll take it. There’s going to come a day when [if I passed on one of these roles] I would kick my own a— later on if I was like, ‘You complained about playing younger? Really?!’ There’s nowhere to go but up.

Andrew Garfield: Because you’re looking, well, old.

Stone: I am.

Garfield: You’re looking proper old.

Stone: I am looking proper old.

Andrew, did the scenes in high school give you flashbacks to your own high-school days?

 Garfield: Yeah, of course. Everyone wants to relive high school and do it better — and I got to do it as Peter Parker, which is the most awesome thing ever.

Stone: Are you serious? If you had the chance to go back and do it again, you’d do it again?

Garfield: Yeah, of course. And you’d do it completely differently?

Stone: Hell, no. But most people say they’d never go back.

Garfield: Yeah, but you were simply at home with your mom.

Stone: Yeah, it was awesome. But I wouldn’t do it again.

Garfield: You were the coolest kid in school!

By Ethan Sacks / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS