Paul Schrader continues his morality trilogy with Master Gardener. The psychological drama centers on the horticulturist for a wealthy dowager who takes her great-niece under his wing as an apprentice, only for her personal troubles to lead to the demons from his past coming back and causing chaos in his peaceful new life.
Joel Edgerton leads the ensemble cast of Master Gardener alongside Sigourney Weaver, Quintessa Swindell, Esai Morales, Eduardo Losan, Erika Ashley, Rick Cosnett, Victoria Hill, and Amy Le. Tapping into similar themes explored in his prior efforts First Reformed and The Card Counter while also exploring haunting other dramatic territory, the film is a powerful and engaging tale of morality and processing one’s past.
Ahead of the film’s release, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with stars Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver to discuss Master Gardener, the heavy themes of Schrader’s script that drew them to the project, the status of Avatar 3 and Edgerton’s thoughts on a Star Wars return.
Joel Edgerton & Sigourney Weaver on Master Gardener, Avatar 3 & Star Wars Return
Screen Rant: Paul Schrader has been on a hot streak of late with his morality tales centered on characters with troubled pasts, and Master Gardener is another wonderful entry into his filmography. What about the script really spoke to you?
Sigourney Weaver: You know, I had never read a script like it. It’s so precise, and elegant and odd, and fascinating. You read a lot of scripts, he does not do any explanation, any background, he just throws you in it. I was just so taken by the skill of it, and what he was taking on, through this story of these three very different people. I just thought it was masterful, and unlike anything I’d ever done.
Joel Edgerton: Yeah, I’ll add to that, and echo a little of what Sigourney is saying, there’s something so efficient in not just the way Paul writes, but the way Paul does everything, the way he chooses his shots, the way he talks to you as an actor. He has a great instinct, and he reaches for that immediately. I think that in his writing, he’s very confidently laying out a story that he’s not trying to over explain, and it’s allowing an audience to sort of meet him halfway, it’s a very special thing.
I’m glad you asked, because reading the screenplay, most audiences don’t ever get to do that. I think now they could search for them online. If you love a movie, it’s a really interesting experience to then go and find out how where that movie started on the page. Paul’s a great writer, he has always been.
Joel, you’re certainly no stranger to psychological dramas and have even directed one before. But what I love about Narvel in comparison to prior characters is that when we start with him, he is in a more positive place, and he’s found a healthier outlet to process everything he’s gone through. How did it compare for you to explore Narvel?
Joel Edgerton: Well, I remember when I was reading the screenplay, and I think it’s because I’m equipped with the knowledge of Paul and his filmography, I was going, “Okay, where’s the contrasting worlds here?” As we’re moving through these pathways in the garden, and hearing Narvel talk about the garden and plants and their evolution, “When’s the violence going to creep into this?” [Laughs] Also, I felt like immediately, before I was really aware of it from the outside, from the inside, I was reading something that was part of potentially a trilogy.
I’m sure I was one of the first people to walk through the door to watch First Reformed at the Angelika, I was living right around the corner. I was so taken with that film and its contradictions, and then we had the assignment in a different way in The Card Counter. Narvel is this almost blank canvas, it’s sort of like a peaceful dead man walking, kind of in a happy stasis in life, hiding. But, of course, we don’t know that yet until Maya comes into the picture.
Sigourney, there’s something so fascinating about Mrs. Haverhill, and so much darker about her than even your harshest characters, whether it be Louise in Holes or The Director in The Cabin in the Woods. What was it like for you to get to the heart of her for this film?
Sigourney Weaver: It was quite a journey, because I felt like I hadn’t really come across a character like Norma. Norma has taken this man in, who has this violent past. She’s not intimidated by what happened, she’s not frightened of him, she’s quite a risk taker. I think she does believe in the redeeming power of growing plants, and I think what’s interesting is that she has come to rely on this man and become intimate with him, to the extent that she’s willing to give away her family’s kingdom.
But there’s a lot of vulnerability in Norma, before you see the harshness. I think whatever you may say about their relationship, she’s trying to do the right thing by Maya after doing the wrong thing with Maya’s mother. I just found what’s wonderful is to come into a role where you can’t get to the end of it, there’s no sort of figuring it out, you just keep experiencing it, and it’s full of surprises to you.
Joel, you recently opened up about how George Lucas and Star Wars really helped a lot with your career early on, and how you had to push for a fight scene in Obi-Wan Kenobi. If the opportunity were to arise for you to come back, be it a season 2 or another project, what would you like to see next from Uncle Owen?
Joel Edgerton: I didn’t have to push that hard [for the fight], I think there was already a feeling that they wanted to see me mess with a little bit of violence in that series, but yeah, I was definitely keen to push it myself. I don’t know, I believe that should only turn up if there’s a good valid reason for it, I wouldn’t want to invite myself to a party where I don’t really belong. I feel like, in many ways, that story has maybe come full circle, or completed itself in the way that it needed to.
But I’m sure there’s someone that, if they had a bright idea, I would definitely put the hessian on again. I always joke that it’s the Tatooine fabric of choice is, it’s like a potato sack, like brown, coarse kind of material. I’d love to see someone make a Vogue cover for Vogue Tatooine. [Chuckles]
Sigourney, Avatar: The Way of Water proved to be a monumental success, and well worth the wait. I know that Avatar 3 was shot simultaneously, but I read recently that Zoe Saldaña said there was still some work that needed to be done on 3. Do you know how the film’s come along, have you been able to see any of it yet?
Sigourney Weaver: I know that in January, I go back and probably do some pickups, I don’t think there are whole new scenes to be shot. I think it’s going to be refining what [James Cameron’s] got now that he’s closing in on the edit, because he always has too much material. He loves to shoot. I wouldn’t even begin to guess of what we might be doing, but I think it’s just maybe going back to a couple of moments and giving him some footage that he didn’t get the way he wants to.
Have you been able to see any of the footage that you’ve done so far for the third one?
Sigourney Weaver: No, it’s not that kind of thing, it’s top secret even for us. [Chuckles] And then, probably when I go back in January and do a day on it, they will show me 20 minutes of it, but otherwise, I’m just in the dark, just like everybody else.
Joel Edgerton: The problem is if she tells you, then she gets in trouble, and you and I get killed. [Laughs]
Coming back to Master Gardener, Joel, I really love the dynamic that you and Quintessa have throughout the film. It feels very authentic and honest, as the characters evolve and get closer to one another. What was it like developing that with them throughout production?
Joel Edgerton: Quintessa is a ray of light and an excellent actor. One thing we’ll say about that is, I might look young [Laughs], I’m not that young anymore. One of my concerns about the screenplay was this relationship that develops between Quintessa’s character, Maya, and I. “Is it there to be tittilating for an audience, or is it there to be challenging?” Because there’s a big age discrepancy, and I was really happy to hear Paul say that he wanted people to be challenged by it as much as they are with the sexual relationship that happens between myself and Sigourney’s character.
Because I’ve often been really confused, even as a younger man, when it seemed okay for these really old guys to be in these sexual relationships with really, really, really young women on screen, and it was there to kind of excite the audience. Paul’s not doing that, but within that, we weren’t allowed to really judge that, as characters. I have a romantic inclination towards a young woman, and it’s a complicated scenario in the trilogy of characters here, and it’s a complicated scenario, given the kind of white nationalist past of my character, who has put things behind him, except for the fact that his whole body is adorned with the markings of that history.
That’s the challenging relationship that Paul wanted to establish, and ask questions of the audience within this story, but for us, building that relationship was important in it. Part of it was built on a shared history of other things, like drugs and a shared history of violence. But I really feel like people need to see the film and ask themselves whether they backing that relationship or whether they’re confronted by it.
About Master Gardener
Directed by Academy Award® nominee Paul Schrader based on his original screenplay, MASTER GARDENER follows Narvel Roth (award-winner Joel Edgerton), the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens. He is as much devoted to tending the grounds of this beautiful and historic estate, to pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager Mrs. Haverhill (three-time Academy Award® nominee Sigourney Weaver).
When Mrs. Haverhill demands that he take on her wayward and troubled great-niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) as a new apprentice, chaos enters Narvel’s spartan existence, unlocking dark secrets from a buried violent past that threatens them all.
Master Gardener is now in theaters.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
