This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USFSP chapter.

Let me start by saying I am a major Andrew Garfield fan. He stars in my favorite movie, The Social Network, as Mark Zuckerberg’s business partner turned enemy, Eduardo Saverin. He has been my white boy of the month for many, many months. Needless to say, I get a lot of Andrew Garfield content on my TikTok For You Page.

But one day when I was scrolling, I saw a video of Andrew Garfield that I had never seen before. It was him sitting in a restaurant across from a girl I didn’t recognize, and they were engaging in conversation that was very…flirtatious. I felt like I was interrupting something just by watching the video. By the end I was left with two main thoughts: what is going on here, and why am I not that girl?

It sent me on a deep dive, one that I have carefully chronicled here. This is the Andrew Garfield x Chicken Shop Girl Timeline.

2014: ‘Chicken Shop Date’ begins

In 2014, Amelia Dimoldenberg released the first episode of Chicken Shop Date with rapper MC Ghetts. Even though she was young—only 20 years old—it wasn’t her first rodeo with this format. She began interviewing people in chicken shops when she was only 17 for her column in the under-21 magazine, The Cut. In the first year of the show, Dimoldenberg also interviewed grime musicians DJ Logan Sama, Fuse ODG, and Jammer. The show is awkward, hilarious, and bingeable, with each episode being around three to four minutes long. Dimoldenberg, though she might not have known it yet, had a hit on her hands.

At the same time, Andrew Garfield was playing the titular role in the second Amazing Spider-Man movie. He was praised for bringing an “innate rebelliousness” to the role, according to film critic Christy Lemire. But Garfield was acting in more than just blockbuster superhero movies. In the same year, he starred in the lead role in the indie film 99 Homes, which he also received critical acclaim for. His film career was taking off and showing no signs of slowing down.

Meanwhile, in 2014, I was 10 years old and trying to make new friends after I moved to Florida. So, really, all three of us were coming into our own if you think about it.

2022: When Andrew met Amelia

Picture the following: you’re Amelia Dimoldenberg. You’ve created the hit web show Chicken Shop Date. Since its creation eight years ago, you’ve interviewed celebrities like Daniel Kaluuya on your show. It’s giving you major opportunities, like being a red-carpet interviewer at the GQ Men of the Year Awards. And then, you run into Andrew Garfield. I would freak out.

But Dimoldenberg keeps her cool and engages in some fun banter with Garfield. He says that he doesn’t want to come on her show because she “dates” a lot of people, and while he thinks that’s okay, he says it makes him feel “less special.” She reassures him that he is “the most special.” I’m not good at picking up on flirting, but I know exactly what’s going on here! Also, later in the interview, he tells her “You look very beautiful.” And because Amelia is a professional, she does not melt into a puddle on the ground, but simply laughs and thanks him.

By the way, while this flirty interview was happening, I was preparing for my high school choir winter concert. I had no time for flirtation. I had to sing “Carol of the Bells!”

2023: Meet-Cute #2

Dimoldenberg and Garfield met on the red carpet again in 2023, this time at the Golden Globes. The interview was, like the last one, very flirty and charged. There’s a point in the video where Amelia jokingly says, “We must stop meeting like this” and Andrew responds with “I only ever want to see you,” which is a crazy thing to say! He tries to save it by claiming that he meant “I only ever want to see you in these kinds of situations.” Nice save.

They also talk briefly about astrology. Dimoldenberg says that she’s an Aquarius, which is Garfield’s moon sign. Then, apropos of nothing, he adds, “If you have a sun sign that’s the same as the moon sign of someone else, it’s good.” Thanks for sharing, Andrew — This could mean nothing!

Meanwhile, instead of having any sort of fun flirty moment, I was starting to wrap up my senior year of high school and was crying over Everything Everywhere All at Once. Which, to be honest, everyone was doing, so in that way, I am connected to Andrew Garfield.

2024: The (chicken shop) date happens

Finally, in 2024, The Date (capital letters necessary) occurred, and it was put on YouTube for the public to enjoy. The episode is 11 minutes long, highly unusual for a Chicken Shop Date episode. Every minute is an absolute delight.

Part of the fun of the episode is that Andrew is matching Amelia’s energy. Most of the time, on Chicken Shop Date, Amelia’s mission is to throw her interviewees off. But here, Andrew is throwing her off. He responds to her questions genuinely and asks her very intense questions, such as “If [the cameras weren’t] here, do you think we’d actually go on a date?” She responds, “I don’t know,” to which he replies, “I actually think we could have.” If this was in a romance book, it would get criticized for being “unrealistic.” Don’t worry, though. Dimoldenberg still gets a couple of pointed questions in, such as, “When are you going to win an Oscar?” which Garfield ends up responding to in a very thoughtful manner. You get the point—it’s wonderful.

Of course, after this interview, the internet is in shambles. As of writing this, the interview has racked up 8.3 million views and YouTube’s official YouTube channel has commented on the video. Even the New York Times, a very serious, professional newspaper, is writing think pieces about it. The internet has a new “ship,” and it’s these two.

I think it’s important to note that at the end of the day, both Dimoldenberg and Garfield are, technically, actors. On Chicken Shop Date, these two people are portraying personas, and the show is heavily edited. Fans should respect those blurred lines between fiction and reality. It’s perfectly fine to enjoy the content; after all, it’s out there for a reason! But it’s equally important to consider the people behind the content. Dimoldenberg and Garfield do not owe us a relationship because they are not fictional characters, they are real people.

All that said, I’m excited to see the next installment in this timeline, and to continue to compare my way less exciting life against it.

The Andrew Garfield x Chicken Shop Girl Timeline

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