KATHMANDU, Jan 15: In his role as ambassador of the Fred Hollows Foundation, Joel Edgerton was recently in town. The Australian actor is known for his movies like ‘The Warrior,’ ‘Animal Kingdom’ and most recently, ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’ He will next be seen as Tom Buchanan in the film adaptation of Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby,’ co-starring with Leonardo DiCaprio.[break]
Republica caught up with the actor over coffee.
What are you doing here in the capacity as ambassador of the Fred Hollows Foundation?
We arrived here five days ago. We went to an eye camp in Nuwakot conducted by Dr Sanduk Ruit. My job with Fred Hollows and with Dr Ruit is to observe and to help spread the word of what work the Foundation is doing when I get home. I have no medical background and there was not a lot I could do at the camp. So we were filming and taking photographs to put together.
This is your second time in Nepal. What do you like most about the country?
I really like going to the regional areas, and the countryside is very beautiful. The culture seems very fascinating to me and I always notice artwork here. I’m really interested in Thangka painting. Every time I’m here, I love looking at the artwork on tables, chairs, and buildings.
Also, the style of living is so different from what we have in Australia. I’m always fascinated by how hard everybody seems to work here. I met one woman called Geeta at the eye camp where she was getting bilateral surgery. When I asked her what she was going to do when she got her eyesight back, she said she was going back to work on the farm. She is 75. Back in Australia, most people at the age of 75 will be sitting in retirement homes. It’s a very different work ethic here, especially in the regional areas, and I was very impressed by it. That got me thinking: when I’m 75, I’m going to be sitting in a rocking chair.
Photo: Bhaswor Ojha
Are you taking anything back since you expressed an interest in the artwork here?
I took four Thangkas back home the last time. I would like to buy some rugs but I’m keeping that for the next time. I’ll be back next year.
What are the things you enjoy while working?
The challenging aspect of working in the theatre is you tell the same story every night. It’s fantastic that you get to tell the story from start to finish all in one night. But it also means that you do the same thing everyday. It’s very tiring. I really enjoy working in films because everyday is a different day where you tackle new parts of the film.
I prefer not to work too much in TV mainly because you’re kind of stuck playing the same character for a couple of years. And part of what I enjoy about being an actor is playing different characters all the time.
Some differences you’ve perceived between the film culture in Australia and Hollywood.
There’s really not that much of a difference that I’ve noticed. Work is always the same. The difference stems from the fact that usually much more money is involved in American productions. They have bigger budgets, and hence, longer schedules where everything is done in a slower pace. In Australia, you’re working with low budgets, and everything moves quickly, and I enjoy that.
I find that when there’s more money involved, people solve problems with money rather than using their brain. That’s the major difference. When there’s a problem in a low-budget movie, people have to think their way out of it, but in American movies, someone just writes a check.
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ has been receiving a lot of criticism. And ‘The Great Gatsby’ is also generating a lot of interest. Your comments?
It’s not really my place to comment on that. The questions about whether it’s factual or not, should they represent it in a certain way – it’s got nothing to do with me. My involvement with the film is limited to the character I play. And I personally don’t want to get involved in political arguments. It was very hard work. We were shooting in Jordan, and because it has evening scenes, we would start work from five in the afternoon till early next morning.
I finished ‘The Great Gatsby’ before ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’ It’s set to come out in May and all I want to say is that I think it’ll be very special. I quite like the work and I’m really happy with that. I read the book like 15 years ago. I went through it again before commencing work just to get a better understanding of the world of the character.
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