Joel Edgerton was first seen in the Episode: "Wild Card" of the Australian television series ‘Police Rescue’ in 1995. He made his silver screen debut in the 1996 American comedy-drama film, ‘Race the Sun’ directed by Charles T. Kanganis. Following his debut, he went on to star in films like ‘Praise’ (1998), ‘Dogwatch’ (1999), ‘Erskineville Kings’ (1999), ‘Sample People’ (2000), and ‘The Hard Word’ (2002). He portrayed ‘Owen Lars’ in the 2002 American epic space opera film ‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’ directed by George Lucas. The film received mixed reviews from critics but turned out to be a decent box office success, grossing over $653.8 million on a budget of $115 million. The following year, he played the role of ‘Aaron Sherritt’ in the Australian bushranger film ‘Ned Kelly’ directed by Gregor Jordan. The film received mixed reviews from critics. In 2004, he played the role of ‘Gawain’ in the Antoine Fuqua-directed historical adventure film ‘King Arthur.’ Even though the film received a lukewarm response from critics, it managed to gross over $203.6 million on a $120 million budget. He continued to appear in films like ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ (2005), ‘Smokin' Aces’ (2006), ‘Whisper’ (2007), ‘The Square’ (2008), ‘Acolytes’ (2008), ‘The Waiting City’ (2009), and ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole’ (2010).
In 2010, he starred as ‘Barry 'Baz' Brown’ in the Australian neo-noir crime drama film ‘Animal Kingdom’ directed by David Michôd. The film opened to critical acclaim and received a 96% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. Edgerton also became a recipient of the ‘AACTA Award’ and ‘Film Critics Circle of Australia Award’ for his performance in the film. He next starred in films like ‘Warrior’ (2011), ‘The Thing’ (2011), ‘Wish You Were Here’ (2012), ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012), ‘The Great Gatsby’ (2013), ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ (2014), ‘Life’ (2015), ‘Black Mass’ (2015), and ‘Midnight Special’ (2016). He portrayed ‘Richard Loving’ in the 2016 American biographical romantic drama film ‘Loving’ directed by Jeff Nichols. The film earned praise from critics and scored an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Edgerton also received several award nominations, including the Golden Globe Award nomination, for his portrayal of ‘Richard Loving’ in the film. He next starred in films like ‘It Comes at Night’ (2017), ‘Bright’ (2017), ‘Red Sparrow’ (2018), ‘Gringo’ (2018), ‘Boy Erased’ (2018), and ‘The King’ (2019). He was last seen in the 2021 epic medieval fantasy film ‘The Green Knight’ directed by David Lowery. The film received positive reviews from critics.