Felicity Jones admits she was at a loss for words when she first met “Star Wars” star Harrison Ford Monday night at the Los Angeles premiere of her new drama “Train Dreams.”
“That was a real moment for me,” Jones, who played Jyn Erso in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” told me, adding, “Obviously, he’s like the ancestor of the entire universe. It’s like meeting my great ancestral figure.”
“I was a little speechless, taken aback,” she said. “I actually really studied him, I studied his work playing Jyn Erso in the movie. He was a huge, huge inspiration, especially what he does in ‘Indiana Jones.’
Jones’ co-star Joel Edgerton, who played Owen Lars in two “Star Wars” films as well as the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” TV series, invited Ford to the premiere. The two have become close since Edgerton directed Ford last year in an ad campaign for Glenmorangie Scotch Whiskey. “He’s a good enough friend to want to support the movie and hang out together and that made me feel very special,” Edgerton said.
Directed and co-written by Clint Bentley, “Train Dreams” is based on Denis Johnson’s short story of the same name about an early 20th century lumberjack and railroad worker (Edgerton) contemplating life as he experiences work, love (Jones plays his wife) and death.
Edgerton felt the film would resonate with Ford because he “lives in the wilderness of Wyoming and he’s very connected to nature.”
Ford is also a “working man,” who was a carpenter before becoming the “biggest” movie star of “all time,” Edgerton said. “I actually tried to buy a house about eight years ago and the real estate agent said, ‘You know, one of the cool things about this house is that Harrison Ford built the kitchen.’ And when I worked with Harrison, I told him this story, and he said, “Yeah,” and he gave me the address of the house.
Edgerton also revealed that he had a “great” reunion with George Lucas on Saturday at the LACMA Art+Film Gala: “I tapped him on the shoulder and literally said, ‘That’s Uncle Owen.’
“Train Dreams” will be released in select theaters in the United States on November 7, before streaming on Netflix worldwide on November 21. The film is gaining traction during awards season, earning two Gotham Film Awards nominations last week for Best Feature Film and Best Adapted Screenplay.
