Joel Edgerton is opening up about his time as Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker’s uncle, in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, before returning to the character two decades later for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
While the 2002 installment of Star Wars didn’t get glowing reviews across the board, Edgerton acknowledges that the film and creator George Lucas greatly contributed to his career path.
“I owe so much in my career to George giving me that job. It opened all the doors to Hollywood,” the actor told NME. “It allowed everyone in L.A. to kind of welcome me and go, ‘Oh, he’s in Star Wars. Let’s give him an audition for other things.’”
Though he pointed out how much he owes Lucas, Edgerton admitted that he was a little hesitant to return to the role of Owen Lars for the Disney+ series.
“I was a little bit… not snobbish but reticent in regards to going, ‘I’ve done this before,’” he said. “I’ve always joked that Uncle Owen is the most boring character in Star Wars history because he’s a moisture farmer, and he doesn’t get to wield a lightsaber.” But, he added, “I saw it as a way to complete a circle of some kind.”
Despite ultimately deciding to appear in the series, The Great Gatsby star explained that he wanted to add more layers to the character than he previously had.
“Everybody thinks that Uncle Owen is a grumbly, cantankerous ‘say no’ dude,” Edgerton said. “I was like, ‘This is my opportunity to put a bit more context on that and have people maybe like him a little bit more.’ And I think we did that.”
He continued, “My one caveat to them was, ‘I know what you’re planning with the story and how it unfolds, and I’m not asking for more screen time, I just want to do something cool. Can I at least have one fight? Can I at least throw my hessian sleeves up and get into one brawl?’”
The writers obliged, and Owen ended up fighting Moses Ingram’s Reva Sevander, which the actor said made it even more special. “How cool is that?”
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