With director George Clooney’s The Tender Bar now streaming on Prime Video, I recently got to speak with Tye Sheridan about making the film. Written by William Monahan and based on Pulitzer Prize-winning writer J.R. Moehringer’s memoir of the same name, the Massachusetts-set drama explores the relationship between the fatherless J.R. (Sheridan) and his uncle (Ben Affleck), as they bond at a bar overflowing with colorful patrons. The film also stars Lily Rabe, Ron Livingston, Christopher Lloyd, Max Martini, Briana Middleton, Max Casella. Daniel Ranieri plays the young J.R.

During the interview, Sheridan talked about how Clooney directs with an actor’s perspective, his personal connection to the script, what he’s most excited for people to see in the film, what it it like reading William Monahan’s script for the first time, how he prepares for a big scene that he knows will be tough to perform, and more. In addition, he suggests the first thing you should watch if you’ve never seen any of his previous work.

the-tender-bar-Tye Sheridan
Image via Prime Video

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Watch what Tye Sheridan had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis.

Tye Sheridan

  • If someone has never seen anything he’s done what is the first thing they should watch and why?
  • How are the directors he’s worked with similar or are they all very different on set?
  • How every director is a film nerd.
  • What is he most excited for people to see in The Tender Bar?
  • His personal connection to the script.
  • What was it like reading William Monahan’s script for the first time?
  • What surprised him about working with George Clooney and what was his directing style on set?
  • How does he prepare for a big scene that he knows will be tough to perform?

Here's the official synopsis:

"The Tender Bar tells the story of J.R. (Sheridan), a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie (Affleck), is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother (Rabe) struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father (Christopher Lloyd) — J.R. begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams — with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar. The Tender Bar is based on the best-selling memoir of the same name by J.R. Moehringer."

the-tender-bar ben affleck Tye Sheridan
Image via Prime Video