# Joel Edgerton

Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series The Secret Life of Us (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in the Star Wars films Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he reprised in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022). For his portrayal of Richard Loving in the 2016 historical drama Loving, he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture.
In Australia, Edgerton won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor for his work on The Secret Life of Us. He has appeared in several Australian films, such as The Square (2008), Animal Kingdom (2010; for which he received the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor), Wish You Were Here (2012), and Felony (2013). Edgerton's other film appearances include King Arthur (2004), Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), Warrior (2011), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), The Great Gatsby (2013), Black Mass (2015), Bright (2017), Red Sparrow (2018), The Green Knight (2021), The Stranger, Thirteen Lives, and Master Gardener (all 2022), and The Boys in the Boat (2023). He has also starred in the Amazon Prime miniseries The Underground Railroad in 2021 and the Apple TV+ science fiction series Dark Matter in 2024.
For his work on The Gift (2015), a thriller he wrote, directed, co-produced, and in which he co-starred, Edgerton received critical acclaim and a nomination for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directing. In 2018, he wrote, directed and co-starred in the conversion therapy drama Boy Erased. The following year The King, which he co-wrote and starred in, was released by Netflix.

## Early life

Edgerton was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia the son of Michael, a solicitor and property developer, and Marianne (née van Dort) Edgerton. His mother is a Dutch immigrant, who was born in The Hague. He graduated from The Hills Grammar School in 1991. He attended the Nepean Drama School at the University of Western Sydney, before moving on to various stage productions, including at Sydney Theatre Company.

## Career

Edgerton has appeared in such films as Erskineville Kings, King Arthur and Ned Kelly. In the Star Wars franchise, he played a young Owen Lars in Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) and reprised the role in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. He played Will on The Secret Life of Us, for which he won an AACTA Award in 2002. In 2005, he lent his voice to the title character of The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, an Academy Award-nominated animated short film. The same year, he appeared as the son of a deceased shoemaker in the British comedy Kinky Boots. He appeared in Smokin' Aces (2006).
Edgerton appeared in the film Whisper (2007), The Square (which he co-wrote and was directed by his brother Nash Edgerton), Acolytes, and Separation City. In 2009, he starred alongside as Stanley in the Sydney Theatre Company's acclaimed production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He appeared in a production of the same play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2009. He appeared in the crime drama film Animal Kingdom as Barry Baz Brown in 2010 in which he won an AFI award. He starred as fictional MMA fighter Brendan Conlon in the film Warrior (2011).
In February 2010, Edgerton was cast in Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s 2011 prequel to The Thing, portraying helicopter pilot Sam Carter. He played Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 remake of The Great Gatsby. He was honoured for his work in international roles with the 2011 Australians in Film Breakthrough Award.
In 2013, it was revealed that Edgerton and David Michôd had collaborated on writing an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henriad" plays, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, for Warner Bros. Pictures.
In 2014, Edgerton starred in the biblical film Exodus: Gods and Kings, as Ramesses II, Moses' adoptive brother, who became a notorious king. Edgerton directed, starred in, wrote, and produced the thriller The Gift, which was released on 7 August 2015 and grossed 60 million with a budget of 5 million. He co-starred in the 2015 film Black Mass as John Connolly, FBI contact and childhood friend of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger.
In 2016, he starred in the Jeff Nichols films Midnight Special and Loving, and in 2017, he starred in the film Bright as Officer Nick Jacoby, an orc who is a police officer. He will reprise the character in the sequel along with Will Smith, directed by Louis Leterrier for Netflix.
In 2018, Edgerton headlined Francis Lawrence's thriller film Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence, and based on the book by Jason Matthews. He plays Nathaniel Nash, a CIA agent who becomes involved with a Russian spy Dominika Egorova (Lawrence). In February 2018, Timothée Chalamet joined the cast of The King, with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner producing, alongside Liz Watts, under their Plan B Entertainment banner. In March 2018, Edgerton joined the cast of the film.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, it was announced that a new film, The Unknown Man, directed by Thomas M. Wright, would begin filming in South Australia as soon as enough of the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. It was released in 2022 as The Stranger. In September 2020, Edgerton was tapped to star in and executive produce limited series The Florida Man based on a novel of the same name by Tom Cooper.
In 2021, Edgerton starred in the medieval fantasy film The Green Knight written and directed by David Lowery.
In 2024, Edgerton guest starred in the Bluey episode "The Sign", voicing a German Shepherd policeman.

## Philanthropy

Edgerton has been a distinguished ambassador for The Fred Hollows Foundation for a number of years and has strong personal ties to the organisation, which works to restore people's sight in poor countries and to improve the health of Aboriginal Australians. In 2012, he visited Nepal, where he saw sight restored first hand. He has described social activism and his involvement with The Fred Hollows Foundation as "an escape" from the "materialistic life" that often surrounds an actor. The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international non-profit organisation which educates and provides equipment for under-supported surgeons to help cure avoidable blindness.

## Personal life

Edgerton's brother, Nash, is a stuntman and filmmaker. Both he and his brother are a part of the Australian film collective Blue-Tongue Films. Nash directed Joel in 2018's Gringo.
Joel was in a relationship with Olympic Gold medalist Cathy Freeman from 2003 to 2005.
In 2018, Edgerton began a relationship with Christine Centenera, editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia. They have known each other since the late 1990s. Their twins were born in May 2021.

## Filmography
### Acting roles
#### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Race the Sun | Steve Fryman | |
| 1998 | Praise | Leo | |
| 1999 | Dogwatch | Sparrow | |
| 1999 | Erskineville Kings | Wayne | |
| 2000 | Sample People | Sem | |
| 2002 | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones | Owen Lars | |
| 2002 | The Hard Word | Shane | |
| 2003 | The Night We Called It a Day | Rod Blue | |
| 2003 | Ned Kelly | Aaron Sherritt | |
| 2004 | King Arthur | Gawain | |
| 2005 | The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello | Jasper Morello | Voice role |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | Owen Lars | |
| 2005 | Kinky Boots | Charlie Price | |
| 2006 | Smokin' Aces | Hugo Croop | |
| 2006 | Open Window | Peter Delaney | |
| 2007 | Whisper | Vince Delayo | |
| 2008 | The Square | Billy | |
| 2008 | Acolytes | Ian Wright | |
| 2008 | $9.99 | Ron | Voice role |
| 2009 | Separation City | Simon Nicholson | |
| 2009 | The Waiting City | Ben Simmons | |
| 2010 | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole | Metal Beak | Voice role |
| 2010 | Animal Kingdom | Barry "Baz" Brown | |
| 2011 | Warrior | Brendan Conlon | |
| 2011 | The Thing | Sam Carter | |
| 2012 | Wish You Were Here | Dave Flannery | |
| 2012 | The Odd Life of Timothy Green | Jim Green | |
| 2012 | Zero Dark Thirty | Patrick Grayston | |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Tom Buchanan | |
| 2013 | Felony | Malcolm "Mal" Toohey | |
| 2014 | Exodus: Gods and Kings | Ramesses II | |
| 2015 | Life | John G. Morris | |
| 2015 | The Gift | Gordon "Gordo" Moseley | |
| 2015 | Black Mass | John Connolly | |
| 2015 | Jane Got a Gun | Dan Frost | |
| 2016 | Midnight Special | Lucas | |
| 2016 | Loving | Richard Loving | |
| 2017 | It Comes at Night | Paul | |
| 2017 | Bright | Nick Jakoby | |
| 2018 | Red Sparrow | Nathaniel "Nate" Nash | |
| 2018 | Gringo | Richard Rusk | |
| 2018 | Boy Erased | Victor Sykes | |
| 2019 | The King | Sir John Falstaff | |
| 2021 | The Green Knight | The Lord | |
| 2022 | The Stranger | Mark | |
| 2022 | Thirteen Lives | Richard Harris | |
| 2022 | Master Gardener | Narvel Roth | |
| 2023 | The Boys in the Boat | Al Ulbrickson | |
| 2025 | Train Dreams | Robert Grainier | Post-production |
| 2025 | The Plague | | Post-production |
Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |

#### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Police Rescue | Andy | Episode: "Wild Card" |
| 1995–1997 | Spellbinder | Bazza | 2 episodes |
| 1996–1999 | Water Rats | Pete Crosby / Aaron Lawrence | 2 episodes |
| 1997 | Big Sky | Pierce Bateman | Episode: "Lost and Found" |
| 1997 | Fallen Angels | Scoob | Episode: "The Faust Lane" |
| 1998 | Wildside | Michael Savini | Episode: "#1.15" |
| 1999 | Secret Men's Business | Baz | Television film |
| 2000 | The Three Stooges | Tom Cosgrove | Television film |
| 2001–2002 | The Secret Life of Us | William "Will" McGill | Main role, 32 episodes |
| 2002 | Dossa and Joe | Robbo | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Dangerous | Senior Sergeant Mark Field | Main role, 8 episodes |
| 2009 | Dirt Game | Shane Bevic | Main role, 6 episodes |
| 2021 | The Underground Railroad | Arnold Ridgeway | Miniseries, 7 episodes |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Owen Lars | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 2024 | Bluey | Policeman | Voice role, Episode: "The Sign" |
| 2024 | Dark Matter | Jason Dessen | Lead role |

### Filmmaking credits

Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 1996 | Jac et Bill | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1996 | Loaded | No | No | Yes |
| 1998 | Bloodlock | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2001 | The Pitch | No | Yes | No |
| 2008 | The List | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2011 | Monkeys | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2008 | The Square | No | Yes | Executive |
| 2013 | Felony | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2014 | The Rover | No | Story | No |
| 2015 | The Gift | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2015 | Jane Got a Gun | No | Yes | No |
| 2017 | It Comes at Night | No | No | Executive |
| 2018 | Boy Erased | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2019 | The King | No | Yes | Yes |
| 2022 | The Stranger | No | No | Yes |
| TBA | Wizards! | No | Story | No |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Venues / Theatre Co. |
| 1994 | The Poet, the Women and the Frocks | | Crossroads Theatre, Sydney with University of Western Sydney, Theatre Nepean |
| 1995 | Eventspace 1: Intersections | | Performance Space, Sydney with Klunk |
| 1995 | Thyestes | | Number Five Bond Store, Sydney |
| 1995 | Blackrock | Toby | Wharf Theatre with STC |
| 1996 | Skin: Somewhere in the Darkness / Historia | The Anthropologist / Chorus (Historia) | Wharf Theatre with STC |
| 1996 | Dead White Males | | University of Sydney, Suncorp Theatre, Brisbane, Newcastle Civic Theatre with STC |
| 1997 | Third World Blues | Graham | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 1998 | Henry IV | Prince Hal | Sydney Opera House, Canberra Theatre, Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Theatre Royal, Hobart, Monash University, Melbourne, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth with Bell Shakespeare |
| 1998 | Love for Love | Valentine | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 1999 | Henry V | King Henry V | Melbourne Athenaeum, Playhouse, Canberra, Sydney Opera House with Bell Shakespeare |
| 2007 | The Pillowman | Katurian | Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2009 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stanley Kowalski | Sydney Theatre, John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington DC, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York with STC |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Subject | Result |
| 2000 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | The Secret Life of Us | Nominated |
| 2002 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | The Secret Life of Us | Won |
| 2002 | Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Actor | The Secret Life of Us | Nominated |
| 2002 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Hard Word | Nominated |
| 2002 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Hard Word | Nominated |
| 2003 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Ned Kelly | Nominated |
| 2008 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Square | Nominated |
| 2008 | AACTA Awards | Best Original Screenplay (with Matthew Dabner) | The Square | Nominated |
| 2009 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Square | Nominated |
| 2009 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Original Screenplay (with Matthew Dabner) | The Square | Won |
| 2010 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Animal Kingdom | Won |
| 2011 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Animal Kingdom | Won |
| 2011 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor | The Waiting City | Nominated |
| 2012 | MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Fight (with Tom Hardy) | Warrior | Nominated |
| 2013 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Wish You Were Here | Nominated |
| 2013 | Australian Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actor | Wish You Were Here | Won |
| 2013 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor | Wish You Were Here | Won |
| 2014 | AACTA International Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Great Gatsby | Nominated |
| 2014 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Great Gatsby | Nominated |
| 2014 | Australian Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Great Gatsby | Nominated |
| 2014 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Great Gatsby | Won |
| 2015 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor | Felony | Nominated |
| 2015 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Felony | Nominated |
| 2015 | Hollywood Film Awards | Breakthrough Actor | Black Mass | Won |
| 2016 | AACTA International Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Black Mass | Nominated |
| 2016 | Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Virtuosos Award | Black Mass | Won |
| 2016 | Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film | The Gift | Nominated |
| 2016 | Austin Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Detroit Film Critics Society | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Florida Film Critics Circle | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Gotham Awards | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Indiewire Critics' Poll | Best Actor | Loving | 6th place |
| 2016 | San Diego Film Critics Society | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | San Francisco Film Critics Circle | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Motion Picture | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | St. Louis Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Utah Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Village Voice Film Poll | Best Lead Performance | Loving | 6th place |
| 2016 | Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2016 | Women Film Critics Circle | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2017 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Loving | Nominated |
| 2017 | AACTA International Awards | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2017 | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2017 | North Carolina Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Loving | Nominated |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best Film | Boy Erased | Nominated |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best Direction | Boy Erased | Nominated |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Boy Erased | Won |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Boy Erased | Nominated |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best International Supporting Actor | Boy Erased | Nominated |
| 2019 | AACTA Awards | Best Film | The King | Nominated |
| 2019 | AACTA Awards | Best Screenplay | The King | Nominated |
| 2019 | AACTA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The King | Won |
| 2019 | AACTA Awards | Best International Film | The King | Nominated |