Australian actor Joel Edgerton has shared a pivotal piece of direction from a previous film that profoundly influenced his performance in his latest project, the Netflix movie Train Dreams.
The Power of a Single Note
During an appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast on Monday 24 November 2024, Edgerton reflected on playing Robert Grainier, a railroad worker and logger who lives a secluded life in the Pacific Northwest. The character is haunted by devastating events, including a wildfire that killed his wife, Gladys, portrayed by Felicity Jones, and their daughter. A defining feature of the role is that Robert has almost no dialogue.
Edgerton, 51, revealed he was drawn to this challenge, comparing it to his experience playing the real-life figure Richard Loving in the 2016 film Loving, directed by Jeff Nichols. "My character in that, funny, was a real-life character, Richard Loving, and he barely said a word," Edgerton explained. "His wife would do the talking, and he was so inarticulate."
The actor described his habit of asking directors early on not to be afraid of giving him critical feedback. Nichols's response was transformative. "And Jeff’s like, ‘I have one note for you, I want to understand you less,’" Edgerton continued. "He got me very few words to say, which was in suiting with who Richard Loving was."
Applying the Lesson to Train Dreams
That specific note from years ago proved invaluable for his work on Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley. "That sort of set the table for me for Train Dreams of trusting that if you think the right things," Edgerton said. He elaborated on connecting with the character's internal world, noting that while he is not a logger, he researched the mindset of marrying life and work. He also drew on his personal life as a "man in love" who adores his children.
Edgerton has been with his partner, Christine Centenera, since 2018, and the couple share two-year-old twin daughters, whose names remain private. Despite these personal touchpoints, he admitted that portraying the less expressive Robert was still a challenge.
Keeping a Lid on Emotion
"So I’m making sure that with the harder stuff in the film, I just knew how to keep a lid on it," he told the podcast. "Because normally when I go to work, I'm like, ‘Jeez, I hope I can do this scene.’ You know, particularly those you worry about, the emotional things. You go, ‘Can I do this today?’"
In a previous interview with Men’s Health last month, Edgerton also connected his character's quiet confidence to his own views on masculinity. He criticised the "alpha" archetype, describing it as a performance rooted in insecurity. "Any perception of masculinity as being about the domination or ownership of the feminine is a very dangerous and limited viewpoint," he stated, adding that self-promotion is, to him, a "sign of weakness."
