Gareth Edwards is living the fairy tale of every geek on the planet. He transformed his passion into a profession. At the age of 10, he discovered Star Wars and became one of its most convinced fans. At the age of 48, he realized Rogue One (2012), an episode of the saga and three other films: Monsters (2010), Godzilla (2014) and The Creator (2023). He received a vibrant tribute at the Gérardmer Festival and still seems quite surprised. “I only started my career as a director at the age of 35,” he explains to 20 minutes. I feel like I wasted time: most of my idols made their first film when they were much younger. »
Gareth Edwards actually didn’t waste his time at all before signingr Monsters. He became, almost unwillingly, a specialist in special visual effects. “I remember when I was sending out my demo reel with clips from my short films in the early 1990s hoping to get work as a director, the only thing the producers noticed was my special effects demonstration! I felt like an actress who gave her best performance and was only praised for her breasts. »
The camp of liars
Gareth Edwards owes a lot to his father who introduced him, sometimes a little too early, to genre cinema. ” He showed me The Werewolf of London by John Landis when I was only 9 years old. I had nightmares about it for months! » The virus also infiltrated thanks to The Fourth Dimension, a fantasy television series that he still loves. But the trigger for his career was really Star Wars. “Initially, when I was a kid, I wanted to join the Rebel Alliance and face Darth Vader,” he confides. When I understood that cinema was only lies, fiction, I decided to join the liars’ camp and become a director. »
Passion Star Wars
His passion for Star Wars never slowed down. He notably went to Morocco to the filming locations of the‘Episode IV. “I went there with my girlfriend who was sick with food poisoning and who called me to help her,” he remembers. I couldn’t hear it because I was listening to the music of Star Wars thoroughly to immerse myself in the world of planet Tatoine. She’s not my girlfriend anymore. »
Gareth Edwards still loves filming locations. He readily admits that this passion is one of the reasons for his move to Los Angeles. “Cinema is my religion and I go on a pilgrimage to find the places where it was created and soak up its magic. »
From dream to reality
His passion for cinema also influenced his filmography by making him realize one of his childhood dreams: participating in the saga Star Wars. However, he does not plan to do it again. “When you hit the jackpot in the lottery, you don’t replay your winnings by buying tickets, you let others try their chances,” he comments. He is now thinking of embarking on more personal projects, still in science fiction, his favorite genre. “You can associate it with another genre as you wish, thriller, western, and make something unique with great freedom. Star Wars is a great example of mixing genres. »
Ideas and projects pile up in his head and the choice is difficult. “Fiction is a comfort blanket for me,” he says. It is a refuge when I am anxious, like when I made up stories when I was a child, imagining myself fighting with Princess Leia. »
Freely
The saga definitely marked him for life. As George Lucas did, he likes to mix real scenery and special effects. And it is now on its filming locations that fans will gather like the London underground station Canary Wharf where he filmed a scene from Rogue One. “People thought I was crazy when I found it,” he laughs.
Now that he’s made his Star Wars dream come true, it’s time for Gareth Edwards to find another one. And it’s done: he now wants to free himself from the works of others to make an original film. “ The Creator was a good start and I am confident for the future. Cinema is being renewed with new techniques that will allow us to do even more things! he enthuses. I would be very excited if I were a young director today. » We also have the idea of discovering his next project.