Gladys (Felicity Jones, left) and Robert (Joel Edgerton) build a cabin in the woods, where they raise their young daughter.
"There's no one way of being a parent and every child is different," says Joel Edgerton, who channeled fatherhood into "Train Dreams."

Joel Edgerton is ready to punch his awards season ticket.

Ever since debuting at Sundance Film Festival in January, “Train Dreams” (streaming now on Netflix) has gradually picked up steam as a dark-horse Oscar favorite among critics, with numerous pundits now predicting nominations for best picture and best actor (Edgerton).

He understands why audiences are responding to the elegiac drama, which follows a logger named Robert as he weathers unspeakable tragedy in the early 1900s Pacific Northwest, finding connection and hope in the folks he meets through the decades.

“It gets inside people’s emotions in a way that’s beautiful,” Edgerton says over Zoom. “It’s a film that reminds us of what’s important in life and how fleeting it is. And it dares to celebrate the heroism and epic nature of an ordinary life.”

How becoming a dad 'came in handy' while making 'Train Dreams'

Edgerton, 51, read Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella years ago and pursued it as a project to potentially direct, only to discover that the rights had already been taken. He put it out of his mind, as he and his wife, Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Christine Centenera, welcomed twin daughters in 2021.

But the next year, director Clint Bentley (“Jockey”) reached out to Edgerton about starring in “Train Dreams,” not knowing his deep connection to the material.

“We talked a lot about being fathers: wanting to protect your children and give them a good life, while also feeling powerless to do so at times,” Bentley recalls. “Joel really helped unlock a lot of the emotional depth of the film.”

Edgerton comes from a family line of sheep farmers and train drivers, and this movie “made me feel like I was walking in their shoes a little bit,” he says. But even more so, he could relate to Robert, who nurtures his infant daughter with his tender wife, Gladys (Felicity Jones).

In real life, “I know what it’s like to fall in love because I am in love,” Edgerton says. “Robert has concerns about connecting with his own children, and questions how long he can be away from them for. That’s me as well – I’m invested in raising my children. So even though I have an ax in my hand, which is not typical for me, everything on a relationship level is stuff I don’t need to pretend to imagine.”

Being a relatively new dad “came in handy” for the movie’s unscripted scenes of Robert and Gladys playing with their toddler around the house and in the backyard.

“Clint was excited about creating the life of the family: just inventing things to do and games to play,” recalls Edgerton, who says he's quite spontaneous at home with his family. “One of my superpowers as a parent is not planning and organizing. I’m very good at being in the moment with my kids and using my creativity, so I was finding my character’s version of that.”

Edgerton used to spend his spare time painting whenever he wasn’t filming, and he still dreams of one day having “a massive art studio.”

“But nowadays, the first thing I do when I wake up is draw with my kids,” Edgerton says. “They say, ‘Draw Spider-Man climbing a skyscraper!’ or ‘Draw a unicorn with a mermaid on its back!’ So I’ve been doing a lot of drawing lately, but it’s to please my kids.”

Joel Edgerton reminds us he's been 'here all along'

Edgerton has worked steadily in Hollywood for the last two decades, ever since his breakthrough as Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen in the “Star Wars” prequels. He’s written, directed and appeared in awards contenders such as “Loving,” “Boy Erased,” “The Great Gatsby” and “The King,” although an Oscar nomination has so far eluded him. Critics often consider him “underrated,” and “Train Dreams” is one of the few movies that lets him be a leading man.

“He’s one of the greatest actors we have and one of the rare actors alive today who feels timeless,” Bentley says.

In the past, Edgerton has said that you must be careful about “how much you buy a ticket to your own parade.” Even now, he allows the business can be “fickle” at times, although he’s never felt that he was “starving” for jobs.

“If I read an article saying, ‘Whatever happened to Joel Edgerton?’ I’d be like, ‘Whatever happened? I’ve been right here all along!’ ” he says with a laugh. That said, “ ‘Train Dreams’ was a real gift. To be at the center of a movie like this, one of my favorite novellas – it felt too good to be true. Selfishly, I hope that one of the byproducts of this very beautiful film is that it will continue to allow me to do more beautiful films in the future.”

In the meantime, Edgerton is gearing up for the holidays. Back in his native Australia, he used to enjoy surfing every Christmas morning. But this year, he’s planning to take a ski trip with his family, and cozy up with his annual film staples “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Year Without a Santa Claus.”

“My kids were 3 last Christmas, and it was their first time putting out a tray of carrots for the reindeer and cookies for Santa,” Edgerton says. “It was the first time I got to experience that side of Christmas: the awe and excitement of the kids. I was like, ‘All right, this is cool!’ Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning for me."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joel Edgerton unleashed his 'superpowers' as a dad for 'Train Dreams'

Reporting by Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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