How Joel Edgerton's Role In Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones Kickstarted His Career
"Obi-Wan Kenobi" is one of the year's most anticipated shows, and it has been no surprise that it will serve as an integral part of the "Star Wars" canon. Some of this has to do with specific castings from the prequel trilogy being retained for the miniseries. One such character is our not-so-beloved Uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton), who is still a few years away from demanding more work on his Tatooine moisture farm. He was last seen agreeing to adopt the infant son of his stepbrother Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in "Revenge of the Sith," under the condition that the upcoming series' namesake never visits him.
However, his first actual appearance in the prequel trilogy came in the previous movie, "Attack of the Clones." He, along with his future wife Beru (Bonnie Piesse, also returning to the miniseries) and father Cliegg (Jack Thompson), had to tell Anakin about the death of his mother, which he refused to believe until he found her body.
These scenes were not as classic as the Battle of Geonosis or the Duel on Mustafar. However, Edgerton nevertheless tried to use his small appearance to get more significant roles, revealing his tactics in an interview with Total Film.
Getting that Tatooine bag
As we all know by now, making any piece of "Star Wars" media takes a long time. In his interview, Edgerton said that he used this to his advantage, securing meetings by saying he was in the "Star Wars" prequels despite agents and other executives not knowing the extent of his role. He explained:
"Star Wars allowed me, in that 18-month period while they were putting the movie together, to bluff my way into any meeting I wanted. 'I'm in Star Wars. I'm not telling you that I'm only in it for five minutes and that I don't have a lightsaber.' I would have meetings with people, and let them believe I was a larger part of the story than I actually was."
He went on to explain that this method of persuasion got him his first international job. Although Edgerton did not specify what this job was, it was likely his role as Gawain in Antoine Fuqua's 2004 epic "King Arthur," according to his acting timeline on IMDb.
Honestly, good for him! Playing a young Owen, whose later death alongside Beru's helped kickstart Luke's drive to become a Jedi, isn't like playing a random background extra. Being an actor and making the right connections can be challenging, so it sounds like a very smart idea to say how you have a speaking role in a major Hollywood franchise, even if it isn't the lead. You have to do what you have to do.
So, what's next for Owen?
Twenty years and several movies later, Edgerton is returning to the role that started his career. Owen is poised to be a significant character in "Obi-Wan Kenobi," potentially butting heads with its namesake. Given how Owen promised to take care of baby Luke if Obi-Wan kept away from him, he's probably not happy that the former Jedi is now moping around Tatooine and spying on him. He's likely to be even more unhappy with Obi-Wan if the Inquisitors decide to search around the moisture farm in their search for him, a plot emphasized in the show's trailer. Whatever the case may be, the conflict between the two men is poised to be interesting.
No matter what happens with Owen in "Obi-Wan," it will surely be an interesting watch, especially considering how much Edgerton's career has grown since "Attack of the Clones" — landing a part in the ensemble in the Oscar-nominated "Zero Dark Thirty," starring in Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby," and earning a Golden Globe nomination for the biographical drama "Loving." It's hard to imagine what would've happened if he had not begun using his small credit to make Hollywood connections.
Now with several movies as both an actor and director under his belt, seeing him take on a more substantial role in the "Star Wars" universe feels like a full-circle moment. We'll see just how much bigger his role as Owen will be when "Obi-Wan Kenobi" premieres on Disney+ on May 27, 2022.