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Tamera Jones
&
Steven Weintraub
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Summary
- Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones for Train Dreams.
- Edgerton and Jones anchor an emotional take on life in early 20th-century America in the new Netflix drama.
- Edgerton and Jones revisit their time with Star Wars and Andor's legacy and discuss the emotional weight of Train Dreams, and the roles that changed their careers.
In Netflix's Train Dreams, Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones star as Robert and Gladys Grainier, a couple navigating America's 20th-century frontier to create a life for themselves in the rapidly changing landscape. With the adaptation premiering on Netflix, Collider's Steve Weintraub sat down with the two to discuss not only this stunning feature, but also other major roles that have impacted their careers, including both their turns in the decades-spanning Star Wars franchise.
Based on the Denis Johnson novella, Sing Sing's Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar create a moving portrait of the overwhelming beauty and dangers of the early 20th century with Train Dreams. In the movie, to provide for his new family, Robert spends much of his time away as a logger and working on the railroad, where his experiences profoundly shape and change him, along with the country itself. The film also stars Kerry Condon, William H. Macy, Alfred Hsing, and Clifton Collins Jr..
For star and executive producer Edgerton, Train Dreams is an especially emotional project, which the two discuss, from the "remarkable" script to the most challenging scenes. They also reflect on their time within the Star Wars fandom and how Tony Gilroy's Disney+ series Andor has affected the franchise. Check out the full conversation in the video above or the transcript below.
'Rogue One' Is Being Rediscovered After 'Andor'
Edgerton and Jones share Star Wars fan experiences over the years.
Image via Lucasfilm
COLLIDER: I love this movie. It's just such a good movie. Since we were just talking about Kubrick, do you have a favorite Kubrick movie?
JOEL EDGERTON: The Shining.
FELICITY JONES: Maybe Barry Lyndon.
Really? Interesting. Either way, there's no wrong answer. I have a ton of questions about Train Dreams, but I do have to ask you, I think that Andor is the best Star Wars since 1980 — no disrespect to the things you've been in.
EDGERTON: I'm not going to fight you.
It's just so ridiculously amazing. Have you all of a sudden noticed more people after Andor wanting to talk about Rogue One?
JONES: Yeah. I was speaking to someone the other day, and they were saying they are a big fan of Rogue One and of Andor, and they were saying how it seems like, through Andor, people are going back and rediscovering Rogue One, because obviously Andor then leads into Rogue One.
You’re both in Star Wars, which is interesting. What's the craziest thing you signed?
EDGERTON: Oh, God. The one for me was someone had one of those boxed-up things, and it was the burned-up Uncle Owen, like the charred remains of Uncle Owen. I didn't even know, at that point, that it existed.
JONES: There are these funny little kind of squat dolls that I seem to sign quite regularly. What are they?
Oh, Funko Pops. Those are very popular.
JONES: Those are pretty funny.
'Train Dreams' Was Special From the Very Beginning
"I was about to go on a really, really good journey."
Felicity Jones and Joel Edgerton in Train DreamsImage via TIFF
Jumping into this film, you never know when you're doing something and you’re on set and filming how it's really going to turn out. When did you both realize this might be a really special movie?
EDGERTON: Oh, God. I had a feeling in my gut after, because I was very familiar with the novella. Then I read the adaptation, which is a really remarkable adaptation of a complex novella. I'd seen Jockey, and then I had a meeting with Clint. I was pretty sure at that moment that I was about to go on a really, really good journey with someone with the potential of the film resolving in a special way, and I have to say, Clint even exceeded my expectations.
He did an amazing job.
JONES: The script was so intelligently written and just brilliant at understanding big themes, big philosophical questions, like why are we here, and what is the purpose of life? but then rooted in these very intimate domestic moments. So it felt like the people behind the script would do something interesting. But what has been amazing is seeing various cuts along the way, how the film just got better and better and better until seeing it finished in Toronto, and I just immediately knew, and it clicked.
EDGERTON: I had a bit of a clue when I started seeing some of Adolpho [Veloso]’s cinematography. All of the things I knew I had a good instinct for, then, in the hands of him as a cinematographer, it was like, “This guy really knows how to shoot.”
There are some very emotional moments that are done in the film. I don't want to talk specifically about anything, but I'm just so curious, as actors, what is it like when you know there's something like a big emotional scene coming up on a Monday? How are you getting ready mentally so that Monday, you're in the right headspace?
JONES: I always hope that it’s not on a Monday. At least Tuesday. Give me a day to get back into the week.
EDGERTON: Preferably a Wednesday.
JONES: Yeah. I think it's actually brutal, though, when you have those big scenes and you know they're coming up. Then you're just really relieved when it's over. You sort of meditate your way into it.
EDGERTON: I felt, with this more than any other film, I wasn't worried about it at all because I could barely even get the words out describing to my wife what the film was about. Because the day I met Clint, I was in Chicago with our one-and-a-half-year-old twins, so some of the film represents my greatest fear, and that shit all lives inside of me like you wouldn't believe from the moments before they were born. So, I just didn't have to think about it at all, I have to say, except that I was worried on the day that I would belie the stoic nature of Robert because I'm a far more emotional person than he allows himself to be.
'Dark Matter' Season 2 Taps Into Timely Concerns
The new season returns to Apple TV+ in 2026.
Joel Edgerton and Alice Braga costar in the Apple TV+ series Dark Matter (2024).Image via Apple TV+
As you know, I'm a big fan of Dark Matter. What can you tease fans about Season 2? I'm really looking forward to it.
EDGERTON: Chaos and the dangers of new technology, which I think is a really relevant topic right now, staring down the barrel of releasing new technology into the world without really thinking about what the dangers of it could be. And that all the people you know and care about and love are back.
Do you know when it's coming out?
EDGERTON: Next year sometime. I think middle of the year.
Okay. It's a little too far, but I'll accept it.
EDGERTON: Come around to my house with a stack of cash, and I'll show you some early cuts.
I like the way you're talking.
'Train Dreams' Was a Whole New Acting Challenge for Joel Edgerton
Jones also shares how The Brutalist helped prepare her for this adaptation.
Joel Edgerton in Train-DreamsImage via Netflix
So you guys have both worked on a number of projects, and I'm just curious which of the things you've worked on was your one project that really changed you as a person, that had a real strong emotional impact, or just changed the way you act?
EDGERTON: For me, this one, for sure. Over the years, we've met so many times, and it's usually a rogue's gallery of weird characters. I think I'm always drawn to going, “How can I be someone really different and play characters that avoid who I really am?” Being a dad and being a husband and having my greatest fear being around my kids’ safety, I felt like at the right time, this character came in front of me as a chance to be way more personal and exposing than I usually am, to the point now where I'm like, how do I look for more of that? I'll still play dress-ups and turn things up to 11 and do weird stuff, but I want more of this. I want to be able to just sort of be more transparent.
JONES: I think probably early on it was doing something like Like Crazy, where it was trying out lots of improvisation, where we were trying to be Jean-Luc Godard-style of performance. And then maybe doing something like The Brutalist, which was a real challenge. I was really enjoying wearing a wig and trying an approach that was more through artifice than through pure naturalism. It was really helpful for Train Dreams, again, using a wig and finding more technical ways into a character.
Train Dreams is available to stream on Netflix now.
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Train Dreams
Like Follow Followed PG-13 Drama Western Release Date November 7, 2025 Runtime 102 minutes Director Clint Bentley Writers Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley Producers Ashley Schlaifer, Marissa McMahon, Michael Heimler, Teddy Schwarzman, Will JanowitzCast
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Felicity Jones
Gladys Grainer
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Joel Edgerton
Robert Grainier
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Train Dreams
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