The City of Stars is not shining just for Andrew Garfield. 

The We Live In Time star recently reacted to a rumor that La La Land, written and directed by Damien Chazelle, was inspired by his former relationship with Emma Stone. 

“I guess people need something to believe,” Andrew—who began dating Emma shortly after filming The Amazing Spider-Man with her in 2010 before breaking up in 2015—told Esquire in a profile published Oct. 2. “I have never, and I won’t ever, speak about or confirm or deny anything about my personal life with anyone, ever.”

And while Andrew wasn’t about to divulge if he was one of the fools who dreamed, Chazelle—who formulated the script with the film’s composer and Harvard classmate Justin Hurwitz for a senior thesis project—has previously given insight into where inspiration for the film starring Emma and Ryan Gosling came from. 

Sadly for fans of Andrew and Emma’s romantic history, it has nothing to do with the former flames. 

“The movie is not based on anything,” Damien explained to the Hollywood Reporter in 2016. “There is something very poetic about a city that is built by people with these unrealistic dreams, and they just put it all on the line for that.”

As for where the theories of La La Land in relation to Emma and Andrew’s relationship come from? After the film came out in 2016—and saw Emma nab her first Oscar for Best Actress at the 89th Academy Awards—many fans saw the parallels between Seb (Ryan) and Mia (Emma)’s love story in La La Land and the real life romance that played out between the Spider-Man costars. 

“Those two are just Seb and Mia,” a 2017 essay in Refinery29 suggested. “They are both artists destined for each other, but taking a break to get down to the business of becoming major stars. Sure, they're not together now, but their love is true. Who knows what will happen?”

What has happened between Andrew and Emma since La La Land came out does, at least, parallel Seb and Mia—in that they have not ended up together. Andrew, for his part, has been rumored to be dating Dr. Kate Tomas since April. Meanwhile, Emma confirmed she had tied the knot with husband Dave McCary in 2020, and the couple welcomed their 3-year-old daughter Louise a year later. 

Still, the duo have proven they’ve remained friendly since their split—and even keep in touch. When Andrew joined fellow former Spider-Man Tobey Maguire in a surprise appearance in the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man: No Way Home, he revealed Emma was one of the many begging for clues about the then-rumored appearance.

“Emma kept on texting me,” he said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2022. “She was like, ‘Are you in this new Spider-Man film?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ She was like, ‘Shut up, just tell me,’ And like, I honestly. I kept it going, even with her, it’s hilarious. And then she saw it and was like, ‘You’re a jerk!’”

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