Andrew Garfield only told three people he was going to be in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Andrew Garfield did his best to keep his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home a secret. He lied to nearly everyone who asked, denying everything. But there there were three people (besides that delivery guy who spilled his findings on Twitter and, of course, Garfield’s agent) who were privy to Garfield returning to the big screen as Spider-Man.

The Tick, Tick…Boom! actor went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where, in addition to being asked about his recent Golden Globes win and working with Lin-Manuel Miranda, he also discussed the arduous process of keeping the big MCU secret.

“I lied to people for a good two years and a half and I lied to the internet for two years, and it felt great,” Garfield admitted. DeGeneres asked him who actually knew about his secret, and Garfield said, “My dad, my brother, and my mother at the time, just kind of us.”

He added, “It was fun to keep it secret. Because, you know when you’re planning a surprise birthday party for someone? And they’re like ‘I hate surprises. Tell me, is the party happening?’ No seriously, don’t mess around, because you know I actually hate surprises.’ […] So it felt like I was organizing a surprise birthday party for a bunch of people who I knew would appreciate it.”

One person was certainly surprised by Garfield was his Amazing Spider-Man co-star Emma Stone. In a recent episode of Josh Horowitz’s podcast Happy Sad Confused, Garfield said Stone kept texting him asking if the rumors were true.

He responded to her text, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But Stone wouldn’t budge—she knew something was up. “She was like, ‘Shut up. Just tell me,’” recalled Garfield. “ I’m like ‘I honestly don’t know.’ I kept it going with her. And then she saw [the movie]. She was like, ‘You’re a jerk.’”