The Underground Railroadis not easy viewing, butBarry Jenkins' adaptation ofColson Whitehead’s acclaimed novel is an unforgettable viewing experience. The story of Cora’s (Thuso Mbedu) struggle to find freedom in the era of 1800s slavery is packed with both horrors as well as moments of beauty, something which starJoel Edgertonwas quite aware of on the set.
Edgerton plays slave catcher Ridgeway, always relentlessly on Cora’s heels, though while ruthless he’s always kind to his young assistant Homer (Chase W. Dillon). It’s difficult material but as Edgerton told Collider in a one-on-one interview, he pursued the chance to work with Jenkins on the series without having read the book.
The Australian writer/director also talked about what it was like working with Dillon, and how both his work on this show as well as living life under pandemic conditions affect his outlook on projects like the upcoming Disney+ seriesObi-wan, in which he is set to reprise the role of Owen Lars.
Collider: It’s a pleasure to speak with you about the show, which is fascinating. And I want to start off by asking how you first came to it? What was your first exposure to the project?
JOEL EDGERTON: Well, I’ve worked with Plan B. They producedThe Kingfor David Michôd and I. And Dede Gardner at Plan B tipped me off that Barry was planningUnderground Railroad, and that I should talk to him about this character of Ridgeway. At that point, not having read the book, I was in Toronto on a press tour forBoy Erased, and I saw Barry at an event. I literally walked up to him at about nine o’clock at night at an event for something I can’t remember. I tapped him on the shoulder and I was like, “Hey man” because we’d met a bunch of times. And I was like, “Oh, I’ve heard about this thing and Dede told me I should talk to you. I really would like to work with you.”
That’s where it started and led to us having conversations about it, me reading the book, and then reading Barry’s screenplays up until about halfway through the series. And I suddenly was like, “Oh.” For all my willingness and interest in saying I wanted to play villains and how interesting that was, was this really something that I wanted to take on board, because of just how despicable on one side Ridgeway was? But because it was Barry and because I think the show’s epic journey was so heroic, I felt like, “Well, I could be the villain while being part of this heroic thing.”
Did you feel like you had a different perspective on the material because you’re not American?
EDGERTON: Hmm, maybe. It’s hard to say because I’m not American. I wouldn’t know how I’d feel if I was. I wonder if I came from America or if I was raised there, if I would feel any sense of shame, indirect shame about the history of my own country.
I certainly do feel that in many ways about aspects of modern Australian history, a reluctance to acknowledge the worst aspects of colonization in Australia. The inability for many people and politicians and various aspects of society to look back and acknowledge the past to look at the present, in order to shape the future, even. So I can relate, but I definitely could relate to the show just on a pure human empathy level of looking at the situation of Cora’s story of being enslaved and what that would mean, of having the simple rights and freedoms that I enjoy taken away from me. And to be constantly met with feeling like violence was always at my door. I could empathize and happily say that I’m glad I can’t relate on a personal level.
One important aspect of Ridgeway as a character is his young companion. What was the relationship like with Chase on set?
EDGERTON: That whole relationship between Ridgeway and his companion, Homer, was one of the things that really tipped me into going, “Yes, I do want to do this.” Because to me, it showed that even the most despicable people, their true heart and humanity somehow finds its way out. That I feel like whether Ridgeway is trying to correct the balance of his past by creating a new future, by creating a father-son relationship with his boy. Whether it’s that or whether it’s just his subconscious soul doing the right thing by looking after another human being, even though he’s doing all these other bad things.
My relationship with Chase was very special. It was important for us to have a good onscreen chemistry. And it helped that we just really enjoyed each other as people. He treated me like I’ve been treated by contemporary friends who rouse me all the time. And here, I’ve got this 11-year-old kid rousing me constantly. And watching him slip into character because there’s no just putting a costume on Chase and going, “All right, let’s film, Chase,” because Chase wouldn’t fit in that world. Chase has an energy that is modern. Chase has an energy that fills a room. He talks to anyone the way he wants to talk to them. He’ll joke with you.
And I’m watching Barry say, “Hey. Couple hundred years ago, if you behaved the way you behave now, you might be punished. So when you put on that costume, you’re not looking people in the eye, you’re not talking unless you’re asked to speak.” And I was really impressed by a young person slipping into a character in a way I’ve never seen before.
Was there a lot done to protect him on set from some of the more intense elements?
EDGERTON: I think we needed protecting from Chase. Look, we all have our own surface resilience. I know I do. I handle it with humor, but I was affected. So I was aware that as much as he seemed okay, we’re all okay and not okay at the same time because we’d gone through the motions of really awful stuff. He had his mom with him. His mom is a wonderful person. He had his teacher there. His teachers were wonderful. I was there to support him, but he was also there to support us.
We had the infrastructure of the set, that they employed a counselor to really just be there in case anyone wanted to have a chat. Sometimes it was just comforting to know that the production had done that. It said to us that they cared. You know what I mean? Just knowing that they were there, even if you didn’t use them on a day-to-day basis. It said production cared and we were all there to care for each other.
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That’s wonderful, especially on a project like this.
EDGERTON: Yeah.
I’m curious, you’ve got other stuff in the works coming up. What kind of energy are you taking from making a project like this to something like, say,Obi-Wan?
EDGERTON: I’ll tell you what, I’m taking a lot of energy right now from the experience we’ve all just been through with our own different related experiences of going through this pandemic, realizing how in jeopardy storytelling is in general. In order to make stories like this, hundreds of people need to get together in close proximity. So it’s been a challenge to make things. All through the pandemic, I watched more films and TV than I normally would because I was stuck in my house. And I’m like, “Well, every night I’m going to watch something”.
So I realized the value of what we do as well. I realized the value of human stories and television and film and I hoped to be able to get back to make it. We produced the movie here in Australia last year. And I was on set for the first time. And I realized that the pandemic had somehow in a weird way, reset my dial and I realized how much gratitude I had to be back working on a movie.
And coming out the end of this last year, watching what Barry did because COVID… Sorry, I’m being long-winded, but COVID started at very end of the shoot ofUnderground. So coming out the other end, watching this show now makes me reflect on that. And now I’m going to get to go participate inStar Warsagain. And I just have so much gratitude that I get to do what I do, that I get to be participating in it and we can do it, hopefully do it safely and look after each other. And that’s where I’m really drawing a lot of my energy from at the moment, is having been okay with taking a pause and realizing it’s not that important what we do, but it holds its place because it brings us all a lot of pleasure.
I think that’s a really good way of putting it. It seems like it’s easy to write off something likeStar Warsas not that important, but it means so much to so many people and when you hear them talk about it…
EDGERTON: Yeah. And look, whatever’s going to bring joy into people’s lives… I remember there was a moment… I’m staring out here is Bondi Beach. And at the beginning of COVID, we were told we weren’t allowed to go to the beach. We weren’t allowed to swim. We weren’t allowed to surf. And I remember thinking, “Oh, but these are the things that we need to keep in our lives at the moment. Yes, we’re all locked down, but it’s important that we get out and move our bodies around and breathe fresh air, and have things that are going to make us happy because there’s a lot of stuff that’s making people unhappy at the moment.” It doesn’t have to be something as rich and substantial asUnderground Railroad. If it reflects human experience and makes us think about ourselves,Star Warscan be that.
In terms of working with Barry, I feel like in watching the cinematography onUnderground Railroad, the camera was constantly doing things that were surprising. And I was wondering if, from your side of it, were you conscious of that at all?
EDGERTON: As someone who’s dabbled with a bit of directing myself, I’m always on set keeping my eyes and ears open about how other directors do things. It’s one of the great privileges of being an actor and a director at the same time, because I get to visit all these sets and learn from other directors. And James and Barry’s relationship — James Laxton, the cinematographer, is wonderful. Having been a part of the evolution of their relationship in the way they rented this show, they make a lot of challenging shots. Barry, for example, would do these shots that may exist as a few lines in the script, but it would be a three-minute Steadicam shot.
And Barry doesn’t like to edit too much, so he likes things to evolve in front of our eyes, in front of the camera. That’s great as an actor because you’re not feeling like your performance has been always cut into tiny pieces. And then watching Barry and James just hit a moment where they go, “We’ve got 15 minutes here. We’ve got all these actors. They’re standing in a plantation. I’m just going to get the crane and I’m going to get them all to stare down the barrel of the lens and we’re just going to pass by all these faces.” It’s that extra stuff that you can’t get from sitting and writing a screenplay, that in-situ you go, “We’re going to create little, extra moments and create another scene here.” I thought that the cinematography’s special, but like you point out, it’s not just how pretty the image looks or how beautiful it might be or the composition. It’s sometimes this unorthodox movement of camera and really pushing equipment to its limits.
To wrap up, I believe the show is going to be released all at once. How do you feel about that, as a release strategy for it?
EDGERTON: Well, I’m very impatient. And sometimes I’ve watched some HBO shows and I’m watching an episode and I go to skip to the next one and they’re like, “Oh, you got to wait until next Sunday.” And I’m like, “That reminds me of when I was a kid and I had to wait for the next episode.” So I enjoy that. But I also enjoy when someone goes, “Here, here’s the whole thing. You take it in your own time.”
For me, when I watched it… I watched a few episodes and then I hit a moment where I was like, “Okay. I’m going to sit back and think about that one.” And then a few hours later came back and watch another episode. And I have a feeling people who might have that experience, they might think they’re going to binge-watch it. And then they take it in chunks because the journey of Cora is not an expected, simple, straight line. She goes through hell. And then she falls in love.
She goes through hell and then she finds community and joy. And so there’s an undulation, I think, to her journey that may require different times of the day or a different moment of reflection. And I think that’s good. That people get to choose their own adventure with it.
The Underground Railroadis streaming now on Amazon Prime.
KEEP READING:Thuso Mbedu on How Making ‘The Underground Railroad’ Transformed Her View of History
