Tye Sheridan stars in The Tender Bar, as J.R. a fatherless boy growing up under the influence of his bartender Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck). The film is directed by George Clooney and based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by J.R. Moehringer. The film is currently playing in select theaters with a wider release set for December 22 and a release on Prime Video in 2022.
Screen Rant spoke to Sheridan about working with Clooney and Affleck and learning from the star actors on set.
Screen Rant: This is a set where I would want to be a fly on the wall so badly between Ben Affleck and George Clooney and Christopher Lloyd and Lily Rabe. Do you have that moment where you pick somebody's brain? You have that, "I just got to know about Back to the Future" or something like that?
Tye Sheridan: Yeah, I mean, I definitely was the fly on the wall. Just taking everything in and listening to everyone. I think it was especially fun to listen to George and Ben talk about both acting and directing, their favorite directors, and this experience and that experience. You don't get to have that at film school. Those types of experiences are invaluable and we're all super lucky and fortunate to be able to exist in a space to do that with such amazingly talented people.
You’ve worked with the best of the best. What would you say about George Clooney’s directing style that was unique to you?
Tye Sheridan: I think what makes him unique is that he's an actor/director. The dynamic, in the way he directs, is very nuanced and very unique to him. I've never had the experience that I had with George with another filmmaker. I think that's partly because a lot of times, he's directing you through an actor's perspective and it becomes really fun. He's very engaged, he's an amazing actor, director and you almost feel like you're kind of acting the scenes out together.
I was watching a panel you guys did, I think it was with SAG-AFTRA, and Ben had said that Christopher Lloyd was the first celebrity he ever saw in the wild. Who was yours?
Tye Sheridan: I think it must have been the first film I worked on. I was 11 years old and I was working with Brad Pitt. But I didn't really know who Brad Pitt was at the time. It's kind of the same Daniel [Ranieri] - who plays the young J.R. in the movie, who's amazing and a super talented young man - said the same thing about George.
He said someone asked him, "Do you even know who George Clooney was?" And he was like, "No." So I guess generation-to-generation, it changes. I can't really remember. I actually remember being 13 or 14 years old at the premiere of Tree of Life and Ben was there, and I remember standing there and listening to Ben and Brad Pitt talk about what it was like to work with Terry Malick. So I kind of vaguely remember that.
The Tender Bar is now out in select theaters and opens nationwide on December 22. The film premieres on Prime Video on January 7, 2022.