Today’s short is produced by Jennifer Laski, Ankler Media’s executive producer of brand experiences, as part of a growing slate of video programming highlighting great performances and talent.
When Joel Edgerton first read the Denis Johnson novella Train Dreams in 2018, he was moved by the heartbreak at its center. But it wasn’t until director Clint Bentley reached out to Edgerton five years later that the story — and the eventual film — took on a much deeper significance for him.
“I’d now had, at the time, twins who were 1-and-a-half-years old,” Edgerton, known for his roles in Loving and the Star Wars prequels, says in Ankler Media’s debut episode of Main Character. “It now had a whole different level of meaning to me as a father and as a husband…. This film was a chance for me to do something as an actor that was far more personal than I would normally look for.”
Train Dreams is a look at Robert Grainier (Edgerton), a logger and railroad worker in the Pacific Northwest who navigates personal heartbreak and seismic cultural shifts in early 20th-century America.
For Edgerton, who served as both star and executive producer on the film, his life suddenly mirrored what Grainier endured in terms of love, family and questions about whether he’s a good father or not. Taking on the role, then, meant a departure from how he usually approached his craft.
“To me, I’ve always seen acting as some version of my childhood love of playing dress-up — reaching into the box and going, All right, now I’m this and now I’m that,” Edgerton says. “This was a case of going, ‘All right, well, now what if I’m me?’”
The primary difference between him and the character was Grainier’s repressed nature as a man who says very little, whereas Edgerton identifies as more outwardly emotional.
“For the sake of staying true to who the character is, it’s important that I put a lid on it because Robert’s not someone who’s going to show his feelings in front of too many people,” he says. “I found that stuff complicated.”
To prepare for his roles, Edgerton doesn’t subscribe to any one method. Instead, his approach varies by project as he collects thoughts and piles them all into a “basket” that ultimately serves as the well he can draw on for a character.
“You should just be in awe of it and immerse yourself in another reality,” Edgerton says. “I admire watching other actors, not knowing how they pull the trigger. I almost don’t want to know.”
Train Dreams is streaming on Netflix. Check back next week for the next episode of Main Character with Sentimental Value star Renate Reinsve.
