LOS ANGELES – Ever wonder what your life would be like if you had taken a different path?

The reality-bending science-fiction thriller Dark Matter explores this idea with the story of a man plunged into an alternate version of his life where he is far more successful – but something is missing.

Streaming on Apple TV+ from May 8 and starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly, the series is creator and American author Blake Crouch’s adaptation of his own 2016 novel of the same name.

It is inspired by the “many worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics, which says every possible outcome of a quantum event actually occurs in its own separate universe, meaning there are multiple parallel realities.

Edgerton plays Jason, a physics professor who is kidnapped into an alternate universe in which he did not marry his girlfriend Daniela (Connelly) 15 years ago, and the pair never had their son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). Amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could have lived, he attempts to return to his reality and save his family from the alternate version of himself.

Speaking to reporters over Zoom recently, Edgerton, who was also an executive producer on the eight-episode drama, says he helped develop the story and characters.

“I had read and loved the book, and when I found out they were doing a series, I was very proactive about getting involved,” says the 49-year-old Australian, who wrote, directed and starred in the acclaimed thriller The Gift (2015).

“Blake, our showrunner and screenwriter, invited me into the process of helping break the book into parts for the series, and amplify certain aspects of character and backstory,” adds the actor, who played Luke Skywalker’s uncle Owen Lars in the Star Wars movies Attack Of The Clones (2002) and Revenge Of The Sith (2005).

Dark Matter’s story grapples with the idea of what it means to be the same person, but one who has lived a very different life.

“I think we all look back on our lives and wonder how different choices have become integrated in who we are,” he says.

Edgerton kept this in mind as he played two versions of his character.

“There’s 15 years of difference in experience between Jason 2 and Jason,” he says.

“On one hand, you’ve got a person who has taken on the responsibilities of being a family man and chosen not to pursue his professional dreams.

“And on the other, you’ve got the Jason who chose not to have those responsibilities tie him down – and he became very successful.”

“Ironically, neither of them feels happy,” Edgerton adds, “proving that success and money don’t necessarily equate to full happiness.”

The actor imbued each version of the character with a different energy.

“There was a confidence and a swagger to Jason 2,” he says.

But Jason is the better father. “In pretending to be a father, Jason 2 could give the wrong advice to his son compared with Jason, who has lived and breathed the pressures of being a father.

“So there were very subtle nuances in the characters, even though they essentially looked and moved the same.

“It was really about intention,” says Edgerton, who has three-year-old twins with wife Christine Centenera, a 42-year-old Australian fashion magazine editor.

He is asked if he is happy with his own life or if he would trade it for a different version.

“I am very happy – with mild concerns,” he says, laughing.

“I don’t know anyone who is 100 per cent happy all of the time, and I think that that’s okay,” adds Edgerton, who also appeared in historical dramas like The Great Gatsby (2013) and Loving (2016).

“I suffer my own anxieties. I stress about life. I have two little kids and I’m constantly concerned for them. But I would wrestle you to the death if you tried to take it away from me.”

He does occasionally, however, “wonder what else I could have been”.

“There were a few big junctures in my life – one relates to health, well-being and lifestyle, and one relates to career.

“And if certain things hadn’t happened, those two could’ve significantly changed my life to the point where I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you today.

“So I wonder – but I am very happy,” he says.

• Dark Matter premieres on Apple TV+ on May 8.