LOS ANGELES — To understand how Andrew Garfield successfully made the leap from Spider-Man to holy man, it’s helpful to know that when he was 8, his hero was Mahatma Gandhi. And that one of his life goals at the time was to seek out the schoolyard bully and envelop him in a warm embrace.

“He was a brilliant terror, kind of like a mini-dictator,” Mr. Garfield recalled during an interview one warm night in the fall. “My first impulse was to give him a hug and a kiss and tell him he was all right, and that he didn’t have to behave that way.”

He paused, a few moments later adding, “Of course, I became his main target, because I saw him so deeply.”

After a few hours of conversation with Mr. Garfield about, among other things, celebrity toxicity, spiritual steadfastness, authentic living and God, it was evident that Mr. Garfield sees many things deeply. This attribute was integral to his landing starring roles in two meaty movies that are receiving awards attention this season.