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.
Joel Edgerton
23 June 1974
- Actor
- screenwriter
- producer
- director
1995–present
Christine Centenera
(2018–present)
2
Nash Edgerton (brother)
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), 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). In 2021, he starred in the Amazon Prime miniseries The Underground Railroad.
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[edit]
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.
Philanthropy[edit]
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.[34] In 2012, he visited Nepal, where he saw sight restored first hand.[35] 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.[36] The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international non-profit organization which educates and provides equipment for undersupported surgeons to help cure avoidable blindness.
Personal life[edit]
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.[37] Nash directed Joel in 2018's Gringo.
In 2018, Edgerton began a relationship with Christine Centenera, fashion director of Vogue Australia.[38][39] They have known each other since the late 1990s.[40] Their twins were born in May 2021.[41]