Joel
Edgerton takes on the complex role of Aaron Sherritt in
"Ned Kelly" - a character based on a man who has
been the subject of much debate.
Edgerton is best
known to Australians through his role as Will on "The
Secret Life Of Us", but international audiences will
recognise him as the young Owen Lars in "Star Wars:
Attack Of The Clones".
"The main thing that
strikes me about this story is that you watch a group of
young men forced to run because of something that really
was out of their control," says Edgerton. "There's the
escalating tension and the aggravation of the police
force while they're running. But they're not only
running - the great thing about Ned Kelly was that,
while the gang were on the run they were also mounting
their own offensive and trying to start this, sort of,
revolution."
"It's pretty exciting to be involved
in the telling of that story as an Australian. It's
probably the biggest and most well-known historical tale
in this country. And I was also interested in playing a
character that had such a flip to it within the script -
playing Aaron Sherritt."
Like most Australians,
Edgerton had a general understanding of the Kelly Gang's
story, but it wasn't until he began researching his role
that he learned the details and motivations behind its
lesser-known characters, like Sherritt.
"You
start opening yourself up to the whole history of it,"
he says. "It's a pretty interesting story because there
are some question marks. From what I can gather one of
the biggest question marks was where Aaron sat in the
whole thing."
Of the Kelly Gang's members,
Sherritt is closest to Joe Byrne (played by Orlando
Bloom). "I think Aaron has a trace of jealousy towards
Ned because of that friendship," says Edgerton. "And
also because of Ned's willpower and pride. I think Ned
is quite dog headed and fearless and Aaron is neither of
those things. Aaron is very practical, he looks after
himself, and so he's certainly not an adventurer. He's
not a chicken by any means, but he's not
brave."
Despite the questions marks over
Sherritt's role, Edgerton says he could still find
sympathy with the character.
"When you think
about that situation - not being part of the Kelly Gang,
but being seen to be affiliated with them - if the gang
were caught and Aaron hadn't been cooperating with the
police, once the gang were gone he had no safety within
the community, which was dominated and run by the
police. So for him to be seen to be cooperating was the
best thing that he could do." | |
| |
 |
 |
Fibre glass versions of the Kelly
Gang’s armour were made for the film, but these were not
used. Instead the actors wore heavy, 4mm-thick steel
armour |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
 |
 |
Joel Edgerton as Aaron Sherritt |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
Aaron Sherritt (Joel Edgerton) with Joe
Byrne (Orlando Bloom) |
|
|
|
|
| | |
