‘Train Dreams’ Exclusive Interview: Joel Edgerton

Joel Edgerton stars in ‘Train Dreams’.

Opening in theaters in limited release on November 7th before premiering on Netflix November 21st is the new drama ‘Train Dreams’, which was directed by Clint Bentley (‘Jockey’), and stars Joel Edgerton (‘The Boys in the Boat’), Felicity Jones (‘On the Basis of Sex’), Kerry Condon (‘F1’), and William H. Macy (‘Magnolia’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Joel Edgerton about his work on ‘Train Dreams’, his first reaction to the screenplay, why he wanted to play this role, and how shooting on location helped inform his performance.

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Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier in 'Train Dreams'. Cr. BBP Train Dreams. LLC. © 2025.

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and why you wanted to play this character?

Joel Edgerton: I realized that every time I get a script, a lot of the choices are made by whatever’s available to me. Then what I choose to say yes or no to is that there’s a lot of things that come my way that are the opposite of this film, which ask me to be heroic. I’m like, “Oh, that’s going to take a lot of acting, the idea of being a superhero,” and I don’t look down on those movies. It’s more like I sometimes read them and think, how do I plug into this? How am I going to perform this authentically? What I love about ‘Train Dreams’ is that it’s not the typical story because it puts an ordinary man in the center of a story and reminds us that an ordinary life can be really elevated, majestic, and special. That just moving through life is epic, and I know how to plug into that. I’m 51 now, and I have two young kids, and I’m married, and I’m always questioning what’s important enough to go away from my family for work. There are so many ingredients in Robert that I’ve just basically grown into right now in my life. So, I felt like it was a much more me experience, this film than if I were to presume to win a battle, or invent some technology, or save the planet.

MF: Finally, can you talk about shooting on location and how that helped to inform your performance?

JE: I think audiences, when they look at nature, there’s a reason why I think a lot of the screensavers on the big plasma screens are these epic canyons and glaciers. I think human beings forget we’re part of the planet. I think we forget that we really are just an animal. We’re an animal that can do cool stuff. We can invent helicopters and AI, but we’re still animals. I think when we see nature, it’s like our ears prick up and we are like a dog watching another dog on screen. We’re like, “Wow, here’s nature. We belong to nature.” So, it feels good to shoot out there. It requires a different level of focus and hard work. The equipment being brought in and making sure that, particularly for us, we didn’t go in there and ruin a forest by dragging in our equipment, but it feels good. It felt good the way Clint established an environment that wasn’t just shooting in one direction and there was a freeway behind us. We could move in any direction. The cabin was built to exist and operate as if it was truly a cabin from that era. It really helped as an actor to, again, I use the phrase plug in, to really be able to dive into that and exist in it.

Editorial Note: Krisily Fernstrom conducted this interview and contributed to this article.

(L to R) Joel Edgerton as Robert Grainier and Kerry Condon as Claire Thompson in 'Train Dreams'. Cr. BBP Train Dreams. LLC. © 2025.

What is the plot of ‘Train Dreams’?

A logger (Joel Edgerton) leads a life of quiet grace as he experiences love and loss during an era of monumental change in early 20th-century America.