Joel Edgerton attends the Los Angeles premiere of new Apple TV+ series 'Dark Matter' at Hammer ... [+]
Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, Apple TV+'s reality-bending sci-fi TV show Dark Matter delivers a unique take on the question, "What if?"
"I'd have way too much to lose to make that choice," explained Joel Edgerton as we discussed the adaptation of the 2016 book, considered one of the best sci-fi novels of the decade. "However, I will say that if there were a way to access multiple realities, it'd be a great thing to buy a ticket just to go and have a look and see what it would have been like if I had done something else with my life rather than become an actor or had not done that stupid thing one Saturday night. I'd love to have a little peek, but I wouldn't change anything."
The tense nine-episode drama sees Edgerton play Chicago-based physicist Jason Dessen. The scientist finds himself transported into an alternate version of his life and locked in a desperate battle to return to his reality to stop another version of himself from harming his family. Dark Matter also stars Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, and Dayo Okeniyi.
His career is the closest he's been to experiencing wondering about roads not taken.
"There have definitely been a couple of dodged bullets for me, and there have been a couple of ones that I'm like, 'Oh, I was wrong about that.' It's not as if I have sat there going, 'If I could find a time machine, I'd go back,' but you realize someone else saw something in a project that I didn't see, and they were right, and I was wrong," he explained. "There are also those moments where people go looking for a house or a car, and someone else pips them to the post; I've had a few of those moments. I also think that is false positivity in some way."
(Left to right) Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly in 'Dark Matter.'
In addition to leading the ensemble cast, Edgerton served as executive producer alongside Blake Crouch, the author of Dark Matter.
"In the sliding doors of it all, there is a version where we did the show, someone else wrote the screenplays, and a third person potentially ran the show. Would it be as good? I don't think so," said Edgerton. Blake was so collaborative. My role as an executive producer was about being invited by him very early to help turn the novel into the screenplay and being involved in story discussions."
"He was very open and interested in saying, 'The book is what it is, but how can we get more out of this given we're going to turn it into a series for each character? What extra dimensions he hadn't explored that were worth diving into?' There is stuff about Jason's family and the grief involved in the show that wasn't in the book. There are certain little dimensions here and there that he amplified for the series' sake. He was a great partner and collaborator and was willing to invite people into the process, making this very special."
Joel Edgerton as physicist Jason Desse in 'Dark Matter.'
Full of challenges, the rich complexity of Dark Matter's tangled narrative was a significant draw for Edgerton, even if it wasn't always easy to execute.
"The challenge with it was keeping everything in your head," the actor admitted. "I'm predominantly playing two versions of the same man. It's like, 'Who knows what? What information do I know or not know?' Switching from one to the other forces you to pay due diligence to all that information. There's no doubt there were moments during the shooting when my brain was bent into a pretzel, trying to keep everything in. However, I always had Blake, the author, the screenwriter, and the showrunner, as the single source of information. I would challenge him on questions I wasn't certain about or make sure I was thinking in the right direction."
"Because of the scheduling and locations, the most challenging day was when I flipped back and forth from Jason One and Jason Two about three or four times. The challenge was doing dialogue scenes and the physical altercations with another version of myself," Edgerton laughed. "It's quite funny when you think about who would win a fight between you and you. You should be evenly matched up physically. However, one of you may have more investment in winning than the other, so it's about desperation. Also, you're teaching a stunt guy that it's okay to fight like you would be an average science professor instead of an actual guy who understands martial arts and all those things."
A tension builds in 'Dark Matters.'
It wasn't just the mental gymnastics that pushed Edgerton to his limits. Dark Matter's sprawling multiverse world-building created physical challenges in extreme environments.
"There was a time when we had a whole area boxed in with fake snow, a combination of real ice and this foam-type stuff but chest high. We had to move through it, and it was exhausting," he recalled. There were other days when we were really in the snow or submerged underwater and put through the wringer, but that's just fun. They're tough days, but I'm an actor; I'm not digging trenches or anything like that."
"To differentiate the versions of my character in the early episodes, Jason One gets beaten up a bit so we could at least lean on the scars and the sort of cuts as much for us as for the audience to go, 'Okay, this is obviously Jason One because he's been beaten up.' Ideally, both Jasons needed to look exactly the same if he were to take over his own life."
Edgerton concluded, "The entire crew was amazing in terms of being across the design, the props, and the subtle shifts. As the audience will find out, we'll see the same bar, The Village Tap, or the same house, but the furniture will be different, or the sign out the front of the bar will be different. Choosing what differences were made through very slightly different versions of Chicago were varying degrees of subtle and enormous. There is a snow world, an ash world, apocalyptic versions of Chicago, and there are versions of Chicago where Jason feels like, 'Oh, this is it. This is my exact reality,' however, there's something ever so slightly different that makes him realize he's found that almost exact version of his life. It's really remarkable."
