Joel Edgerton on 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' and Seducing Snakes

Joel Edgerton is a very quiet force of nature, able to slip, nimble and unnoticed, into a wide variety of roles. He's starred in things like "Animal Kingdom," the award-winning Australian crime drama, and the misguided remake of John Carpenter's "The Thing," while also turning in memorable supporting roles in things like "Zero Dark Thirty" and "The Great Gatsby" (old sport). But with his role as the pharaoh Rhamses II in Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings," Edgerton finally gets to strut. And it is glorious.



Edgerton's pharaoh is the one who continues the oppressive regime of his father (played, somewhat bafflingly, by John Turturro), keeping the Jews enslaved and building really tall pyramids. (Even his lackeys think his grandiose designs are "a little much.") It's up to the pharaoh's childhood BFF Moses (Christian Bale) to put the pharaoh in his place and lead the slaves out of Egypt. And lead them he does.



In "Exodus: Gods and Kings," Edgerton gets to strut around shirtless, with his head shaved, his eye make-up done to professional drag queen standards of excellence, and his skin bronzed the color of dull copper. Edgerton is an actor who easily fades into the background, not because he's a dull actor but because he is able to dial it down to such a subtle degree. With "Exodus: Gods and Kings," it's impossible not to acknowledge what a powerful presence he has. And in our interview with him we discussed what it was like to seduce a giant snake, the similarities between his pharaoh character and an evil owl he once played, and his connection to the "Star Wars" universe (he played Uncle Ben in the prequels!)

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