The Australian actor Joel Edgerton actually came to the attention of audiences here first as a writer-performer with The Square, a noir his brother directed and which took American critics by surprise with its taut thrills. Since then, he’s become known for his pugnacious, hyper-masculine roles in films like The Great Gatsby, Animal Kingdom, Zero Dark Thirty, and Warrior. In 2016’s Loving, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, he played one-half of the husband-and-wife duo Richard and Mildred Loving (opposite Ruth Negga), who were arrested in Virginia in 1958 because he was white and she was not. Their decade-long legal battle to live as an interracial couple in their state was the basis of Jeff Nichols’s Oscar-nominated drama. It turns out, though, that Edgerton is not the taciturn man he often portrays. In fact, he’s quite talkative and silly.
How did Loving come to you?
I was in the middle of working with Jeff Nichols at the time [on Midnight Special], and towards the end of that process he talked to me about this other project, Loving. That was about a year-and-a-half before we rolled cameras. But I think he was looking at me on set in Midnight Special and my hair was cropped really short, and there was something about the way I looked in that movie where I think he saw Richard Loving in me. In terms of just the weird simplicity of the shape of my head I think was enough.
[Laughs.] One of the things I thought was amazing about your performance is that you are naturally a very communicative person, and Richard Loving is so taciturn and American. He’s very un-Australian.
What you’re basically saying is that I won’t shut-up. [Laughs.] And Richard was very, very quiet spoken.
To me, he is so quintessentially American.
Yeah, a very rural aspect that we also have a lot of common with in Australia. What is known as the strong, silent type. I think that type, they’re all over the world. To me, it seems more bred out of rural places. When people are not bumping into each other every 30 seconds like they are in a city, there’s no onus on people to constantly be having conversations. And I think that breeds a certain, ah, economy of language.
Did you find him easy or difficult to play?
I thought it would be a little bit easier than it turned out, on a few levels. Because he doesn’t speak very much I thought that might be easier than having to talk a lot. [Laughs.]
I think that’s harder.
Yeah, well that’s what it felt like. It seemed not so much harder, but a more specific and detailed challenge in understanding why a character is not talking, you know? You know why a character is talking when you have a big speech to learn. And you can interpret that however you want, sub-textually or whatever, but when you have nothing to say and yet the camera is on you for a large portion of time… I think there’s a responsibility to be specific about the nonverbal communication. That became the real task for me and seemed harder than I expected at first, naming the silences in my mind and writing those speeches that were thoughts unable to be verbalized.
Did you know the story before you started?
No. I didn’t know about Richard and Mildred. I’d heard about Loving v. the State of Virginia as as a case, but I had no idea who they were. But I’m Australian, so I figured I’m off the hook. It wasn’t like I missed that day at school. But then you like wonder where was that day at school, because most young Americans don’t know the story. Most people of my generation, even the generation before, don’t know about it unless they have an experience in their family that relates to the Lovings’. Like the people who run up to us and say, “Oh I love this movie. This is my father and mother’s story.” Or, “This is my story.”
We were the first feature film to screen at the National Museum of African-American History, in Washington, D.C. We got a private tour. The Richard and Mildred story just occupies one small corner of the building, they’re one tiny piece of that whole quilt of very painful stories. Some of them very joyful, others very inspirational, and everything in between, you know? So for Richard and Mildred’s story to be plucked out of that barrel and given a moment in the sun, I think now resonates with the injustice and inequality that are really loud conversations right now.
Did you carry Richard around with you afterwards? Do you carry your characters home with you?
A little bit. I mean, I don’t know. How do I say this without it seeming like a complete esoteric weirdo comment?
Go for that esoteric weirdo comment.
There’s that feeling… [in low voice] he’s right behind you. No, the memory of the film and all the traits of the character and the things that went into building it, the experiences he had along the way, the qualities that you turned up or turned down in order to create that person—they’re all sort of tucked away on your shoulder somewhere. You got to love them you know, even the baddies. And so you have a bunch of imaginary friends. God. Low and behold I ever get crazy and start talking to all of them individually, or turning into them all. [Laughs.]
I saw The Gift, the movie you directed, again recently. And I wondered what movies scare you?
Well, this is why I made The Gift. I love being scared at the movies. I recently saw a YouTube video clip that scared me and made me feel more tense than anything I’ve seen in a long time.
What is it?
It’s an iguana running away from a bunch of snakes, you got to watch this. [Laughter.] One animal versus another animal video is some of the favorite real-life dramas I’ve ever seen.
What happened? Does he get him?
You gotta watch it. It’s only three minutes of your life, but it makes you feel so tense. Basically the snakes can’t see, but they can feel and sense movement and this iguana is just trying not to move. But there’s three or four big brown snakes kind of swirling around and he knows that if one of them happens to slide over him he’s done. And the moment the snake touches him he just takes off and there’s like 20 different snakes all trying to chase him on this beach.
Oh my gosh.
He’s got to get to this rocky cliff and… dun-dun-dah. My point I love movies that put me in that feeling of being tense and a little bit frightened. Because movies are, I guess, a safe place to feel fear. I love aliens, I love ghost stories, I love all that stuff. But there’s nothing more terrifying than watching a story where you go, “Oh that could actually happen.” Or, “That person could really exist.” And so the premise of The Gift was really tapping into the fear that we all might possess.
What is your biggest irrational fear?
I mean, heights, spiders—I’d put them all in the irrational world, wouldn’t you? I think the irrational fear that drives a lot of my behavior is kind of irrational—the fear of not being appreciated and not being liked. I know this isn’t like a psychologist’s couch here, but… I think a lot of us walk around constantly putting too much effort in and trying to please people, or deciding that other people don’t value us, or that they don’t like us. And it really actually doesn’t matter.
Do you have a pet peeve?
I don’t like people who talk in the movies. Unless they’re watching one of my movies and they’re saying, “This guy is awesome. This movie is awesome and this guy in it, wow, he’s awesome.” Those people can talk.
So where was your first kiss?
Where was my first kiss? On the lips. [Laughs.] Ah, no, my first proper kiss was in a game of truth or dare. But the first kiss that had some proper feeling behind it was a different thing and I really ballsed that up.
You did?
I messed it up, yeah. I kissed a girl and I was sort of making the approach and I made what I thought was a really great split decision—and I don’t know why at the time—to kiss her on the arm instead of the general face area. And she broke up with me two days later.
[Laughs] Why did you go for the arm?
The arm? I was just terrified. She had a light-blue flannel shirt on, I remember that.
You somehow went for the shirt? Did you like the shirt better?
It wasn’t like I was trying to kiss clothing, it was just that I was trying not to kiss face. [Laughs.] Because I was scared. I didn’t know how to handle women.
How old were you?
Thirty-six? [Laughs.] No, I was 14 and there was a party at my house. That was Friday night, and then Monday morning at school she broke up with me. It was definitely because I kissed her arm. She was like, The sign of things to come. [Laughs.] I think I’m going to cry if we talk about this anymore.
Emma Stone, Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams and More Are the Best Performances of the Year
Stone wears Chloé tunic; Wolford leggings; her own rings. Beauty: Covergirl. Affleck wears Louis Vuitton jacket and shirt.
Portman wears Dior dress; Mish New York earrings. Beauty: Dior. Negga wears Carolina Herrera dress; Lalaounis earrings. Beauty: Laura Mercier.
Adams wears Prada shirt; Djula earrings. Beauty: Giorgio Armani. McConaughey wears Burberry shirt.
Driver wears AG T-shirt. Mortensen wears Alternative Apparel henley.
Williams wears Louis Vuitton dress and bodysuit. Beauty: Nars. Edgerton wears Burberry T-shirt; Rolex watch.
Kidman wears Chanel dress; Tiffany & Co. earrings. Beauty: Chanel. Ali wears Simon Miller T-shirt.
La La Land
“My real name is Emily Stone, but when I started acting, that name was already taken by another actress, so I had to come up with a different one. For a 16-year-old, picking a new name is an interesting prospect, and back then I said, ‘I’m now going to be Riley Stone!’ So, for about six months I was called Riley. I landed a guest spot on Malcolm in the Middle, and one day they were calling, ‘Riley! Riley! Riley! We need you on set, Riley!’ and I had no idea who they were talking to. At that moment, I realized that I just couldn’t be Riley. So I became Emma. But I miss Emily. I would love to get her back.”
Sonia Rykiel sweater; Commando briefs.
Gold
“I was attracted to Gold because it reminded me of my dad. He loved shady deals. He’d much rather do a shady deal with fun people than a good deal with a bunch of straight-asses. He invested in diamond mines in Ecuador, and there were no fucking diamonds there. It was a scam, but he loved that. That’s the spirit of my character, Kenny Wells. There’s a little poem we have in the movie—‘Bird With No Feet Sleeps in the Wind.’ And that’s it: If Kenny, or my dad, gets the money or not, does it really matter? Would he change? No. Not that guy. These are people who are going to con, finagle, and boot-scoot their way in the side door. They never had the front-door entrance to the American Dream.”
AG jacket; Current/Elliott T-shirt; Levi’s jeans; John Hardy bracelet (right); Ann Demeulemeester boots.
Arrival and Nocturnal Animals
“Tom Ford became my muse on Nocturnal Animals. My character, Susan, was very personal to Tom, and so I based my interpretation on him. Tom would ask on set, ‘Why is Amy using her hands like that?’ And I said, ‘I’m copying you, Tom!’ I used him. I used him up.”
Gucci shirt; Djula earrings.
Jackie
“Playing Jackie Kennedy is scary. I was nervous at first, and I started by doing a lot of research. The biographies on her are all a little bit trashy, but the transcripts of her interviews with the historian Arthur Schlesinger were really helpful. He taped everything, and you can hear Jackie’s voice. Her intellect and her wit and what she’s bitter about are immediately apparent. At the same time, I was going to costume fittings and makeup tests. When I put on the Jackie wig, the physical and emotional sides came together. The hair itself is so iconic that once you have it right, you can start to see Jackie. I don’t really look like her, but I felt like I was in her skin.”
Equipment dress.
Paterson and Silence
“Silence is the story of two Jesuit priests on a journey from Macao to Japan in search of their mentor, a priest who may have renounced his faith. When Martin Scorsese asked me to come to his house to talk about the movie, I already knew that for 28 years it had been his passion project. We talked about Silence, but when Scorsese starts a sentence, ‘When we were shooting Raging Bull…’ you can’t help but say, ‘Yeah, okay, tell me everything.’ So we talked for a long time, and finally he asked me if I would be willing to lose weight for the role. It made sense: How can you play a 17th-century persecuted priest while eating great meals? So I lost around 51 pounds. The weight loss was only bad in that, you know, I’d try to figure out how to play a scene and I had no ideas, because I was so damn hungry. Then I’d have a scoop of peanut butter and suddenly everything turned on!”
Dior Homme jacket; Rag & Bone Standard Issue T-shirt and jeans; Rolex watch. On model: Wolford stockings.
Hell or High Water
What was your first audition? My parents were both actors. I had just graduated from college, and my father had gone in for an audition for Gilmore Girls. He told the casting directors, “My son is back in town. Will you have him in for a reading?” So it was nepotism at its best. I can’t remember the role—maybe a boyfriend to someone? I got my start playing boyfriends, husbands-to-be, and princes.
In Hell or High Water you play a kind of modern Western antihero. You don’t speak much. When I read the script, the image that came to mind was of a man on a porch squinting through harsh sunlight into the distance, but not talking. I have a lot of similar memories of my father, where we are sitting next to each other and not saying much. Westerns have a stoic silence I’ve always appreciated. These days, we have so many distractions. I have minor ADD, so if anything grabs me and keeps me from petting my dog or collaging or just daydreaming, I immediately pay attention.
Brunello Cucinelli sweater; Sandro trousers; Loewe shoes.
Michael Kors henley. Model wears Araks robe; Stella McCartney Lingerie bra; Fifi Chachnil briefs; Falke stockings; Gianvito Rossi shoes.
Loving
“When I auditioned for the part of Mildred Loving, I had to sort of disappear into her character. Usually, I don’t create a costume for an audition, but this time I wore a summer dress. I knew that coming in the door looking like this woman would have an impact. A year later, I learned I got the part. At the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, I walked up the steps of the Palais in full makeup, and I walked down the steps with mascara dripping. It was such an emotional experience. All I could think was that I needed to blow my nose before it dripped all over my frock.”
Prada top and skirt; Fabiana Filippi top (underneath).
Hidden Figures
“I’m a pretty good actress. You could say that, right? Well, to play Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who figured out a way to get NASA astronauts into space, I had to be believable as a math expert—and I failed math in college. Precalculus looked like Chinese to me. Even with two tutors, I still failed. So God has an incredible sense of humor, because now I am playing a mathematician! Even on set, they would have a professor there to try and teach me. I said, ‘Show me what I have to write and I’ll memorize it, because I’m not gonna get it.’ Take that, math! I won: I became an actress.”
Monse shirt; La Perla bra; Forevermark by Natalie K earrings; Jimmy Choo shoes.
Rules Don’t Apply
“I never knew Howard Hughes, so I’m able to take liberties, to allow my imagination to go to work. I like to quote Henry Ford, who said, ‘History is bunk.’ I like to quote Winston Churchill, who said, ‘History will be kind to me, because I intend to write it myself.’ And, in Rules Don’t Apply, I quote Mr. Hughes himself. He said, ‘Never check an interesting fact.’ ”
Jeffrey Rüdes sweater.
Manchester by the Sea
“I used to love movies that made me cry, and now all movies seem to make me cry. I don’t like that so much. I have my own things to cry about. I remember being young and sitting on the floor in my father’s apartment watching The Elephant Man on his black and white TV. When the Elephant Man did his speech—‘I am not an animal’—I started sobbing. That’s a tearjerker. That film made a superstrong impression on me. It set a certain standard in my mind of what was possible.”
Louis Vuitton pants; Falke socks. On model: Alexander Wang sweater.
A Monster Calls and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
“Recently, I seem to be doing a lot of dying onscreen. Lizzie, my character in A Monster Calls, has cancer, and I became obsessed with the way someone’s voice changes as their body deteriorates, and how they change the way they hold their body. Cancer patients would tell me things like, ‘You become obsessed with painting your nails, because your body is out of control.’ It became harder and harder to play Lizzie. I don’t think I’m going to die anymore.”
Giorgio Armani dress; Djula earrings; Tacori ring.
Allied, It’s Only the End of the World, and Assassin’s Creed
“It might sound weird, but I always cry at the end of Step Brothers. I’ve seen the movie 10 times, and it still touches me at the end, when Will Ferrell sings. You don’t expect to cry watching that type of comedy, but I always do.”
Burberry trenchcoat; Loro Piana sweater; Chopard earrings.
Hell or High Water
“I remember doing an interview years ago and being asked if I was one of those actors who takes the part home with me. I answered, ‘No. Not really.’ My wife happened to be in the room, and she started to laugh. Apparently, I had been playing a terrible person—a killer or someone who buries people alive or something—and she definitely noticed. I wasn’t fun to live with.”
Boss coat; A.P.C. jeans; the Frye Company boots.
Lion
“When I was cast in Slumdog Millionaire I was 17. At our first major screening, I walked the red carpet in my school shoes and a terrible suit I found on the high street, in London, with my mum. My costar, Freida Pinto, was very beautiful, very glamorous, and they said, ‘We can’t have this kid walking the red carpet with her! He’s spoiling the whole picture!’ So they gave me a new suit and fixed me up. It was a bit like Pretty Woman.”
Hermès sweater; Frame Denim jeans.
The Edge of Seventeen
Where was your first kiss? My first kiss was actually onscreen. I was in a graduate-thesis film called She’s a Fox, and I had to kiss two guys in it. I think I was 12. I was very nervous. One of the guys was shorter than me, and he had to stand on an apple box… Awkward! He told me, “I’m going to pretend I’m kissing my mom!” I was pretty sure that’s not the thing you say before you kiss a girl, so I looked at him and said, “Okay, I’m going to pretend I’m kissing my dog!”
Where was your first real-life kiss, then? At my house, by my front door. Which kind of sucks, because every time I walk through my front door I think about it. The kiss was a little messy, and I looked at the guy and said, “No, no, you can do better.” That’s not what you’re supposed to say, but I said it anyway.
Max Mara bralette; DKNY pants; Cartier earrings; Jimmy Choo shoes.
Max Mara bralette; DKNY pants; Cartier earrings.
The Witch and Split
You say you don’t like watching horror films—so what’s it like for you to act in them? I’m a real scaredy-cat. I’m not good at being frightened. But I do like acting in a horror movie, because I get to feel so intensely. You put yourself in these extreme emotional situations, and it wears you out in a great way. Afterward, I go home and get a good night’s sleep. The work chills me out: I’m a lot more stable since I’ve been in scary movies.
What frightens you? Revolving doors. I worry they’ll cut me in half. Strangers will see me tense up and hold my hand as I’m going through them. I’m constantly worried that I’m not going to make it through the door alive.
Gucci jacket, shirt, and pants.
Midnight Special, Elvis & Nixon, and Nocturnal Animals
“Doing a sex scene is just like having sex, except without any of the pleasure. The horror, fear, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness of sex is all there to enjoy—but none of the happiness.”
Saint Laurent jacket, shirt, and tie; Tiffany & Co. watch.
Hacksaw Ridge and Silence
“The majority of my process in playing a priest in Silence was praying. I’d never really prayed before, and I developed a relationship with a power greater than myself—call it God, call it love, call it what you will. It became very natural to me, and I realized that we’re all praying all the time. There’s that human impulse to worship and to long for a connection to the divine. Unfortunately, in our culture we are driven to worship things that are false and empty. I had a year of exploring this idea of what we are truly longing for and how we actually go to the places that can feed that longing. We all get glimpses of eternity every day. It’s just a question of whether we’re looking up from our iPhones long enough to notice.”
Alexander McQueen jacket and pants; A.P.C. shirt.
Maggie’s Plan and 20th Century Women
What is your karaoke song? It’s the nerdiest one ever: “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” by Billy Joel. It’s one of those songs that if you were a certain kind of teenage girl—me!—you thought knowing all the words would help you get a boyfriend. And then, about 30 seconds too late, you realize that it won’t. But it remains my song. I had the same thought about “Modern Major General,” by Gilbert and Sullivan. I thought guys were looking for a girl who could memorize a lot of names, but they didn’t care about that. They just cared about getting a hand job or something.
Do you have a cinematic crush? I would have to say Melanie Griffith in Working Girl—the first time she meets Harrison Ford at the bar. She’s all done up and she tells him, “I’ve got a head for business and a bod for sin.”And young Harrison Ford…what a dreamboat! But it’s her I truly love. She’s so compelling and funny. She’s sexy without being plastic. I think a lot of people miss seeing women that way.
Proenza Schouler dress; Guidi boots.
Moonlight
Were you a dramatic child? Yes, I used to stand in front of the mirror and try to make myself cry. I would also try different accents. I was living in an imaginary world, usually with Michael Jackson. He was going to rescue me! I used to draw pictures of me and Michael getting married, and I would send them to his fan club. I would imagine Michael waiting for me at the gate of my school, eager to whisk me away to a happier world.
Why Michael Jackson? I imagined myself as a Peter Pan kind of character, and Michael represented that existence. He was my guy.
Miu Miu coat, sweater, shorts, and shoes.
Manchester by the Sea
“As a little kid, my first love was IMDB [the data bank for movies and television]. I would memorize the birthdays of child actors. I really wanted to be an actor, and I related to the kids in the industry. But now that I think about it, memorizing their birthdays is not cute at all—it’s a little serial killer–ish.”
Prada sweater; Brooks Brothers boxers.
Lion
What was your favorite birthday? When I turned 40, my husband, Keith [Urban], drove me up to the top of this small hill in Australia and sat me down. He had put together this huge fireworks display. It was just for the two of us! It was sexy.
What is your pet peeve? When people say they will do something and they don’t. And I know it’s terribly demanding, but I don’t like it when my husband doesn’t answer his phone. I have to keep calling and calling, and I get anxious. Does that make me high-maintenance?
What movie has made you cry? Last year I saw Room, and I was absolutely devastated by it. I’m raw as I get older. I have to be careful what I let in.
Where was your first kiss? This is crazy: We were playing hooky from school. I had my first kiss while watching The Shining. Is that not weird? And we did a few things other than kiss too! I didn’t see a lot of the movie.
Chanel sweater, dress, shorts, and shoes; Bulgari earrings.
