Andrew Garfield Top 10: All you need to know about the Spider-Man actor

Get the lowdown on the new Spider-Man actor...

1. Garfield was born in LA to a British mother and an American father. He moved to the UK when he was three and grew up in Surrey

2. He attended London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.

3. In 2004 he won a Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for his role as Billy in Kes at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre

4. His stage acting won him a further prize in 2006 when won the outstanding newcomer award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards

5. Variety Magazine named him as one of its ‘10 actors to watch’ in 2007

6. In 2008 Garfield was named as one of European films' Shooting Stars by the European Film Promotion Board

7. As well as acting Garfield has tried his hand at modelling. He made his modelling debut ion Vogue magazine in 2009, appearing alongside fellow Brit Lily Cole in a Hansel and Gretel inspired shoot

8. His film credits include Boy A, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

9. He has also starred in a number of TV shows including acclaimed C4 drama Red Riding, Dr Who and Simon Schama's Power of Art: Caravaggio

10. For an actor who’s about to enjoy the Hollywood big time, he seems very grounded. “I'm very neurotic and self-conscious. So I think that I'll know when I'm becoming a dick and believing my own press,” he says

Meet the New Spider-Man: Andrew Garfield ... Who?

Make way for the new sticky-fingered hero.

Los Angeles-born actor Andrew Garfield, who grew up in England, will step into the spiffy red boots previously occupied by Tobey Maguire for what will be the fourth screen adventure for Spider-Man – also known as Peter Parker.

Something of a familiar (and handsome) face in the U.K. for his TV starring roles on Red Riding and Boy A, Garfield, 26, will be seen on the big screen this fall in The Social Network (director David Fincher's film about Facebook, also starring Justin Timberlake) and in the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Last year, he appeared in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

From reports, Garfield's stiffest competition for the role came from Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right), Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) and the original Billy Elliot, Jamie Bell.

"Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor's work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker," says Spidey 4 director Mark Webb, whose debut feature, (500) Days of Summer, developed something of a cult following last year.

The new movie is set to begin filming later this year, for a release in 3-D on July 3, 2012. Its story, Sony Pictures said earlier this year, will take the superhero back to his origins and focus on "a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises."