Australian actor Joel Edgerton has come a long way since his days as William McGill on The Secret Life Of Us.
From Hollywood blockbusters including Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby and Red Sparrow, to home-grown films such as Animal Kingdom and Wish You Were Here, Joel’s career has been as impressive as it has been varied. Acting, writing, producing, directing; the 47-year-old star has done it all.
The actor is now starring in Netflix’s Henriad adaptation The King, a project he co-wrote alongside director and friend David Michôd.
The film, which stars Timothée Chalamet as King Henry V, had its world premiere at the prestigious Venice Film Festival in September. The stars then descended upon Sydney on Thursday night for an Australian premiere, where we caught up with Joel to talk about his role as John Falstaff, Henry’s friend and mentor.
“This has been an eight year labour of love for me,” Joel tells TV WEEK. “There’s been a residue for me on this, for the character Timmy plays, because I played his character on stage.
“So it was interesting to step outside and look at him play that character, while playing Falstaff with him. But it’s been an indelible experience and it will leave a long-lasting impression on me.”
David Michôd, Timothée Chalamet and Joel Edgerton at the Sydney premiere of The King (Image: Netflix)
Of course, we had to ask Joel his thoughts on reuniting with the cast of the TV WEEK Logie Award Winning-drama The Secret Life Of Us.
After all, reboots are all the rage right now and his former co-stars, Deborah Mailman, Claudia Karvan and Samuel Johnson, have said they could be interested if everything fell in to place.
Samuel noted Joel himself, saying “we’d have to get Joel back from the states and that would be tough.”
So, what does Joel think?
“Oh my god, I mean it’s a great idea!” he tells TV WEEK. “I saw that the cast of Friends recently got together.”
Joel adds he would consider a reunion “if there was a big enough outcry.”
Though a reunion may not be on the cards just yet, Joel does still hold extremely fond memories of his time on the show.
“Secret Life Of Us was one of my greatest memories as an actor,” he says. “And one of my greatest risks was leaving that show, because I was having such a great time, but I saw that I wanted to do other things.
“I wasn’t leaving because I was not happy, I was leaving, I think, because I was ambitious. But I really love my memories of that show and I had such a f—–g great time doing it.”
The cast of The Secret Life Of Us.
The King debuts on Netflix on November 1, with exclusive theatrical engagements beginning October 11 2019.
