Go Pro Today

Joel Edgerton Explains Why Lucas Hedges Was Right to Play Gay Teen in ‘Boy Erased’ (Video)

Toronto Film Festival 2018: “I wanted representation to be part of that group. And with Lucas, there was an ‘I don’t know’ situation,” Edgerton told TheWrap

| September 13, 2018 @ 2:52 PM

In “Boy Erased,” “Lady Bird” actor Lucas Hedges plays a teenage son of a Baptist preacher who is sent to a church-run, gay-conversion therapy camp when he’s forced to come out to his parents.

Taking such a role opened Hedges, 21, up to questions about his own sexuality. And in a New York Magazine interview, Hedges explained that he’s “not totally straight.”

“I recognize myself as existing on that spectrum: Not totally straight, but also not gay and not necessarily bisexual,” Hedges said.

Also Read: 'Boy Erased' Film Review: Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe Shine in Gay Conversion Therapy Drama

But the director and co-star of “Boy Erased,” Joel Edgerton, applauded how his young star handled himself in that interview and explained why, despite having uncertainties about his sexuality, Hedges was still right to represent such a character on screen.

“I wanted representation to be part of that group. And with Lucas, there was an ‘I don’t know’ situation, and I’ve known him since he was a teenager, since he was very young,” Edgerton told TheWrap’s Matt Donnelly at TIFF 2018. “I’m very proud of how he handled that interview and how he’s been embraced for that, but it wasn’t really… he was the right guy, there was something in my sensation about knowing Lucas that just felt right.”

In addition to Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, the movie also stars Troye Sivan and Xavier Dolan, two young “out and proud” actors who Edgerton was proud to cast. But Garrard Conley, who wrote the memoir on which “Boy Erased” is based, also spoke with Hedges about some of the things that would eventually appear in the New York Magazine interview.

Also Read: Joel Edgerton Drama 'Boy Erased' Acquired by Focus Features

“I just knew he was the right person for this role,” Conley said. “Whenever we went to his apartment, he had my book marked up on every page.”

“He’s a very thorough, sensitive, well researched actor, who also is a really nice balance of head and heart and gut,” Edgerton said of Hedges. “He’s intuitive and yet doesn’t just assume to turn up and channel without research. I think really good actors do their homework and they also know how to fall off a cliff and land because they understand living in the moment.”

“Boy Erased” opens in theaters on November 2. Watch a clip from TheWrap’s TIFF interview above.

89 Stunning Portraits From TheWrap's Toronto Studio (Exclusive Photos)

  • TIFF Split toronto
  • Elle Fanning, Teen Spirit
  • Max Minghella, Elle Fanning, Clara Rugaard, Zlatko Buric, Teen Spirit
  • Elle Fanning, Teen Spirit
  • Alexander Skarsgård, Hold the Dark
  • Mia Goth,Robert Pattinson and Claire Dennis, High Life
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gael Garcia Bernal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Alonso Ruizpalacios and Gael Garcia Bernal, Museum
  • Brian Tyree Henry, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell and Daniel Kaluuya, Widows
  • Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
  • Colin Farrell, Widows
  • Cynthia Erivo, Widows
  • Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello, Giant Little Ones
  • Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello, Giant Little Ones
  • Radhika Apte and Dev Patel, The Wedding Guest
  • Radhika Apte and Dev Patel, The Wedding Guest
  • Nicole Kidman, Destroyer
  • Karyn Kusama, Nicole Kidman, Tatiana Maslany and Sebastian Stan, Destroyer
  • Paul Dano, Wildlife
  • Paul Dano and Carey Mulligan, Wildife
  • Jena Malone, The Public
  • Emilio Estevez, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, and Michaek K. WilliamsThe Public
  • Emilio Estevez, The Public
  • Michael Kenneth Williams, The Public
  • Jason Reitman, Matt Bai and Jay Carson, The Frontrunner
  • Adam Stein, Lexy Kolker, and Zach Lipovsky, Freaks
  • Garrard Conley and Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased
  • Jason Sudeikis, Judy Greer, Lee Pace, Nick Hamm, and Isabel Arraiza, Driven
  • Isabel Arraiza, Driven
  • Lily Rose Depp, A Faithful Man
  • Lily Rose Depp, Louis Garrel, and Laetitia, A Faithful Man
  • Laetitia Casta, A Faithful Man
  • Laetita Casta and Lily Rose Depp, A Faithful Man
  • Y'Lan Noel, "The Weekend"
  • Sienna Miller, Jake Scott, Will Sasso, Aaron Paul, and Christina Hendricks, American Woman
  • Werner Herzog, Meeting Gorbachev
  • Alexis Bloom, Divide and Conquer The Story of Roger Ailes
  • Taylor Hickson, Giant Little Ones
  • Karyn Kusama, Destroyer
  • László Nemes, Sunset
  • Lee Chang-dong,Burning
  • Steven Yeun, Burning
  • Darren Mann, Josh Wiggins, and Taylor Hickson, Giant Little Ones
  • Zlatko Buric, Teen Spirit
  • Clara Rugaard, Teen Spirit
  • Max Mingella, Teen Spirit
  • Darren Mann, Giant Little Ones
  • Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Never Look Away
  • Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Nicole Taylor and Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Nicole Taylor and Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Christian Slater, The Public
  • Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased
  • Josh Singer, First Man
  • Josh Wiggins, Giant Little Ones
  • Liam Neeson, Widows
  • Louis Garrel, A Faithful Man
  • Sebastian Koch, Never Look Away
  • Sebastian Stan, Destroyer
  • Tatiana Maslany, Destroyer
  • Thoma Mann, The Land of Steady Habits
  • Thomas Mann, Nicole Holofcener and Ben Mendelsohn, The Land of Steady Habits
  • Tom Schilling, Never Look Away
  • Ali Abassi, Border
  • Paul Greengrass, Åsne Seierstad, Jonas Strand Gravli, Seda Wit and Jon Oigarden, 22 July
  • Damien Chazelle, Linus Sandgren,Ai-Ling Lee Tom Cross, and Josh Singer, First Man
  • Errol Morris, American Dharma
  • Judy Greer, Driven
  • Jason Sudeikis, Driven
  • Lee Pace, Driven
  • Jeffrey Wright, Hold the Dark
  • Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
  • Paul Greengrass, 22 July
  • Wanuri Kahiu, Rafiki
  • Damien Chazelle, First Man
  • Victor Polster, Lukas Dhont, and Arieh Worthalter, Girl
  • Lukas Dhont, Girl
  • Victor Polster and Arieh Worthalter, GIrl
  • Paul Greengrass, Strand Gravli, Jon Oigarden, Seda Wit, and Asne Seierstad, 22 July
  • Roddy Doyle and Paddy Breathnach, Rosie
  • Paddy Breathnach, Rosie .jpg
  • Roddy Doyle, Rosie
  • Felix Van Groeningen, Beautiful Boy
  • Jason Reitman, The Front Runner
  • Juli Jakab, Sunset
1 of 89

Toronto Film Festival 2018: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elle Fanning, Robert Pattinson and more stop by our studio

View In Gallery