Joel Edgerton

Edgerton was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia^[1] the son of Michael, a solicitor and property developer, and Marianne (née van Dort) Edgerton.^[2][3] His mother is a Dutch immigrant, who was born in The Hague.^[4][5] He graduated from the Hills Grammar School in 1991. He attended the Nepean Drama School at the University of Western Sydney,^[6] before moving on to various stage productions, including at Sydney Theatre Company.

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)^[7] and reprised the role in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.^[8] 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).^[9]

Edgerton appeared in the film Whisper (2007),^[10] The Square (which he co-wrote and which was directed by his brother Nash Edgerton), Acolytes, and Separation City.^[11] In 2009, he starred as Stanley in the Sydney Theatre Company's acclaimed production of A Streetcar Named Desire.^[12] He appeared in a production of the same play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2009.^[13] 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).^[14][15]

In February 2010, Edgerton was cast in Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s 2011 prequel to The Thing,^[16] portraying helicopter pilot Sam Carter.^[17] 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.^[18]

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.^[19][20][21]

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.^[22] He co-starred in the 2015 film Black Mass as John Connolly, FBI contact and childhood friend of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger.^[23]

In 2016, he starred in the Jeff Nichols films Midnight Special^[24] and Loving,^[25] and in 2017, he starred in the film Bright as Officer Nick Jacoby, an orc who is a police officer.

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.^[26] In March 2018, Edgerton joined the cast of the film.^[27]

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.^{[28][29][30][31]} 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.^[32]

In 2021, Edgerton starred in the medieval fantasy film The Green Knight written and directed by David Lowery.^[33][34]

In 2024, Edgerton guest starred in the Bluey episode "The Sign", voicing a German Shepherd policeman.

In 2025, Edgerton starred in the drama film Train Dreams, receiving universal acclaim from the critics. The performance earned him nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Performance, among others.^[35][36]

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.^[37] In 2012, he visited Nepal, where he saw sight restored first hand.^[38] 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.^[39] The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international non-profit organisation which educates and provides equipment for under-supported surgeons to help cure avoidable blindness.

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.^[40] 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.^[41][42] They have known each other since the late 1990s.^[43] Their twins were born in May 2021.^[44]