Joel Edgerton

An Australian actor with rugged charm and a relatable Everyman presence, Joel Edgerton became a familiar face in both Hollywood and indie films. Starting out on Aussie television, Edgerton rose to fame in his homeland as a regular on the popular drama series "The Secret Life of Us" (Network Ten, 2001-05) and went on to appear in his first big-budget movie with a small role in the sci-fi prequel "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" (2002). Other mainstream fare followed, but Edgerton did not have his critical breakthrough until his key part in the gritty Australian crime film "Animal Kingdom" (2010). From that point on, Edgerton was in the big leagues, with one high-profile project after another. He went on to expand his creative work, writing and directing films like psychological thriller "The Gift" (2015) and family drama "Boy Erased" (2018) as well as starring in films such as historical biopic "Loving" (2016), crime comedy "Gringo" (2018) and espionage thriller "Red Sparrow" (2018).

Born in a suburb of Sydney, Edgerton studied drama and appeared in numerous stage productions before setting his sights on screen work, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Nash, an internationally-known stuntman. After bit parts primarily on Australian television, he scored a supporting role in the scrappy drama "Erskineville Kings" (1999), starring the soon-to-be-famous Hugh Jackman. Although Edgerton would have to wait years for wider recognition, he became an Aussie star in 2001 with his featured part on the hit series "The Secret Life of Us." Leaping to Hollywood as Owen Lars, the little-seen stepbrother of Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" (2002), he wasn't able to parlay the role into immediate success, but he did reprise the part briefly in "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" (2005). Meanwhile, Edgerton snagged a slightly bigger role in the period action flick "King Arthur" (2004) and showed off his comedic chops in the cult favorite British film "Kinky Boots" (2005). Three years later, he made his debut as a feature screenwriter with "The Square" (2008), an Aussie thriller directed by his brother that he also appeared in. Though Edgerton seemed content to steer clear of Hollywood fare, once international audiences witnessed his compelling key turn in David Michôd's Down Under crime tale "Animal Kingdom" (2010), doors to bigger productions opened up once again. In "Warrior" (2011), Edgerton won accolades as an earnest schoolteacher moonlighting as an MMA fighter who must face his estranged brother (Tom Hardy) in the ring, and that same year, he battled a ferocious alien life form in "The Thing" (2011), a prequel to the sci-fi/horror classic. After a family-friendly paternal turn in "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" (2012), Edgerton helped bring home the finale of the acclaimed "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012) as a Navy SEAL who helps to take out terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Continuing his eclectic stint in intriguing films, he played against type as the arrogant Tom Buchanan in fellow Aussie Baz Luhrmann's lavish adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920s masterpiece "The Great Gatsby" (2013). Edgerton next wrote a pair of films, the gritty crime thriller "Felony" (2013) and post-apocalypse dystopia "The Rover" (2014). After co-starring in Ridley Scott's Biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014) and Anton Corbijn's '50s period piece "Life" (2015), Edgerton went behind the camera for the first time, writing and directing the psychological thriller "The Gift" (2015). He also co-starred in the film opposite Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. Edgarton next appeared in Scott Cooper's "Black Mass" (2015), playing a conflicted FBI agent opposite Johnny Depp as real-life Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger. After co-writing and starring in the western "Jane Got A Gun" (2015), Edgerton starred in science fiction drama "Midnight Special" and played Richard Loving in "Loving" (2016), a historical drama about the interracial marriage that ended miscegenation laws in the United States. Horror film "It Comes By Night" (2017) and crime comedy "Gringo" (2018) were followed by "Red Sparrow" (2018), a high-profile action espionage film starring Edgerton opposite Jennifer Lawrence. Edgerton returned to the director's chair with dysfunctional family drama "Boy Erased" (2018), in which he starred opposite Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Lucas Hedges.