Joel Edgerton’s mom isn’t afraid to ask her son what the heck is happening in his mind-bending Apple TV+ series, Dark Matter. Neither is his mother-in-law. And crucially, neither is Decider. In honor of Dark Matter‘s intense Season 1 finale, which premiered on Apple TV+ Wednesday, June 26, the newly 50-year-old actor hopped on a Zoom call from Europe one day after his birthday to discuss the thrilling sci-fi series, adapted from Blake Crouch’s popular sci-fi novel. Edgerton was such a huge fan of Crouch’s book that he sought out involvement in the series and not only landed the demanding gig, but served as an executive producer. Before diving into Episode 9, which finds him playing hundreds of Jason Dessens as a result of some classic multiverse madness, Edgerton took a moment to whip out his cell phone and read his supportive mom’s latest text message aloud: “Watched Episode 4 and 5 of Dark Matter. It is so complicated. But when you walked through the snow, how did that happen? And how did you do the underwater scene? Scary.” Same, Joel Edgerton’s mom. Same. After a hearty chuckle, Edgerton revealed that his family’s confusion helped him realize Dark Matter‘s incredibly complex storyline “forces people to really focus on what’s happening.” Over its nine episodes, the series explores life’s regrets, what ifs, and the road not taken. And looking back on his experience, Edgerton is “thrilled” that every decision in his life led him to Dark Matter. In celebration of Dark Matter‘s Season 1 finale (and of course, Edgerton’s birthday!) read on to hear the actor dish on playing hundreds of Jasons, working with co-stars Jennifer Connelly and Alice Braga, his thoughts on a potential Dark Matter Season 2, and more.
DECIDER:
It’s so nice to see only one of you. I asked to get all the Joels on the phone, but you were the only one available.
JOEL EDGERTON:
[Laughs] I actually had this thought the other day. I get a bit busy sometimes and a bit overwhelmed by all the things that I want to do, and people I get back to. I’m like, I should call Apple and borrow a few other versions of myself and then I could get it all done.
You primarily played two major versions of Jason. But what was it like taking it to the next level and unlocking even more personalities of that same character towards the end?
On one hand it was a real exciting challenge, and as we got to the last couple of episodes it reminded me of part of the reason why I signed on to do it in the first place was not for ego reasons, but wanting to be in the show as much as humanly and scientifically possible to explore the different points of view of the same human being under different pressures and different circumstances. For the most part, I play two versions of the same man with very subtle differences coming at life and experience from slightly different — or in some ways majorly different — ways. But with the final couple of episodes, you actually see characters really fighting for what they want and having been put through all sorts of other trauma as a result of the whole situation. Therefore, the Jasons that we meet become more scheming or more violent or more willing to act out of desperation. And I found that quite an interesting challenge — having to constantly remind myself that they are all of the same foundation and not to go too far into it.
I frequently found myself thinking that continuity-wise, wardrobe and makeup-wise, and of course, performance-wise this show was so ambitious and exhausting, but I imagine an actor’s dream. Do you have a favorite Jason vs. Jason scene?
So, work — I’m not a big action guy. I’ve done movies that have physical elements to them and I always really, really, love that aspect of working, when you get to do something challenging on a physical level. And the psychology of two Jasons talking to each other in a bar, that was very interesting. But also what I found equally as interesting: having to do physical fight scenes with myself. I have to really understand the agenda of each side of the fight and then work out the mechanics of it with a stunt person and teach them how I might do one side of the fight, so that we could do one angle of it and switch roles. So learning two sides of a fight was another one of the labyrinth challenges for the show, but fun. I felt like I needed some sort of PhD in something that didn’t exist to get it done properly. [Laughs] But outside of that it was a reminder of how excellent film crews are and the support crew — in
