Andrew Garfield protects his private life "like a lion".

The British actor is dating his The Amazing Spider-Man co-star Emma Stone but won't talk about their romance. As his career began taking off, Andrew started to realise he wanted to keep some aspects of his life to himself.

"Well, obviously that's a bold statement," he replied, when asked about his sizzling chemistry with Emma in the movie. "There are certain actors who are comfortable talking about personal life and private life. I'm just discovering that I'm not one of those. I protect my private life like a lion. My job is to be an actor and I love it so much and I'm so happy to do it and I'm so lucky that I get to do it because there are so many people whose job is also being an actor but they haven't had the good fortune that I've had. The rest of it has to be treated as if it was a dream because it kind of is."

Andrew portrays the title superhero in his new movie with Emma and still can't believe he landed the role. He has loved Spider-Man ever since he was a little boy and joked he always hoped he'd get to portray him on the big screen.

"I'm always pinching myself, yes. I feel like if I look too hard at the situation I find myself thinking that I might implode," he told UK TV show Daybreak.

"Since I was three years old I've been waiting for the phone call that I received two years ago. So it's an incredibly surreal position to find yourself in."