With writer-director Paul Schrader’s fantastic new movie, The Card Counter, opening in select theaters this weekend, I recently had the chance to speak with Tye Sheridan about making the revenge thriller. In the film, Oscar Isaac stars as William Tell, a card counter who lives as anonymously as possible on his travels from casino to casino, content to make just enough to keep going. When he is approached by Circ (Sheridan) to help him seek revenge on a military colonel (Willem Dafoe) that has connections to both of their lives, he takes the young man on the road with him to try and break his obsession with revenge. When a mysterious gambling financier La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) offers to stake him so he can play for higher stakes, Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk and they all set out on the road towards playing in the World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. As you can imagine in a film written by Paul Schrader, things go not go as planned.

During the interview, Sheridan talks about what drew him to the material, what it was like working with Oscar Isaac and how he did so much by doing so little, the unusual way Schrader will film scenes, and more. In addition, he touched on one of his next projects which is director George Clooney’s coming-of-age film The Tender Bar. The film is based on J.R. Moehringer's bestselling memoir, which recollected the time he spent searching for unlikely father figures among the patrons at his uncle’s bar in Long Island and also stars Ben Affleck.

the-card-counter-Oscar Isaac and Tye Sheridan
Image via Focus Features

RELATED: ‘The Card Counter’ Review: Paul Schrader Deals a Methodical Tale of Failed Redemption

Check out what he had to say in the player above.

Tye Sheridan

  • What was it about The Card Counter script that made him want to do it?
  • What was it like working with Oscar Isaac and how he did so much by doing so little?
  • What was it like working with Paul Schrader and what surprised him about the experience?
  • How Schrader will only do a few takes and will sometimes start in the middle of the scene because he knows exactly what he needs for the edit.
  • How he’s finished working on director George Clooney’s The Tender Bar.
the-card-counter-Oscar Isaac Tye Sheridan
Image via Focus Features