This Green Knight Star Owes His Fame To Star Wars
Joel Edgerton paid tribute to the role that launched his entire career.
Joel Edgerton may not have the flashiest career among Hollywood actors, but he is consistently great in his performances.
Appearing in a number of acclaimed films over the years, including Warrior (2011), The Great Gatsby (2013), The King (2019) and The Green Knight (2021), he has earned a loyal fanbase of his own, calling him a "sleeper hit" in terms of his roles.
But according to the actor himself, he owes much of his current career to Star Wars, and George Lucas in particular.
In a recent interview, Edgerton said his role as Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker's step-uncle, which he portrayed in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, "opened all the doors to Hollywood" for him.
"Oh, he's in Star Wars. Let's give him an audition for other things," the actor said, recalling those days.
Joel recently reprised his role in the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series, although he was a bit skeptical about it as he thought Owen's character was rather boring. However, he used it as an opportunity to add more depth to the character.
However, fans disagree with him about the character's dullness. According to them, they could have easily watched an entire episode of him just moisture farming on Tatooine.
They jokingly add that if the beginning of There Will Be Blood (2007) with the main character digging for oil was interesting to watch, there is definitely a way to make watching Owen work the land enjoyable.
Fans also praise him for his great acting talent and say that he has grown significantly since Star Wars, with Owen no longer being his definitive role.
Which is great, because not many Star Wars prequel actors (who weren't already famous at the time) really became bigger names in Hollywood, and they're glad that Edgerton actually managed to pull it off.