The Card Counter's Tye Sheridan Details What Drew Him to the Paul Schrader Film

09/07/2021 07:54 pm EDT

A number of factors come into play in regards to what might compel a performer to seek out an opportunity, from the specific story to the talent behind the camera to the cast they might get to collaborate with, though The Card Counter star Tye Sheridan recently detailed that it was a combination of multiple elements that made him pursue the role of Cirk in the upcoming film, with the opportunity to work with writer/director Paul Schrader being a prominent factor. While Sheridan has previously worked with co-star Oscar Isaac in X-Men: Apocalypse, this storyline allowed for an even more engaging collaborative process between the two performers. The Card Counter lands in theaters on September 10th.

"Paul's a living legend and so I think having the opportunity to work with him was super exciting. I've worked once before with Oscar and I love Oscar and I think he's such a phenomenal actor, so that was exciting," Sheridan detailed to ComicBook.com of what drew him to the film. "And I loved the themes that the movie's exploring, themes about guilt and past trauma and how we struggle to overcome it and move forward. I think that all those things were really interesting to me."

The film is described, "Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader's The Card Counter. Told with Schrader's trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions, and features riveting performances from Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe."

As with many films from Schrader, The Card Counter doesn't hold back when it comes to exploring intense themes, with one sequence, in particular, demonstrating an immensely tense encounter between Isaac's and Sheridan's characters.

"You know it's an important scene but also it's really exciting because I think Oscar brings his level of focus to the set, which completely bleeds into everyone," the actor recalled of preparing for the sequence. "I think that it's great when you're working with somebody who just loves what they do so much and they're so focused on that, they come to work to work, and everybody's dialed in because they know that. So to have everybody on their best game and putting as much focused energy as they possibly can into it, so I think that was definitely the case with that scene and it gives you the opportunity to elevate it to a place that's really special and unique."

The Card Counter hits theaters on September 10th.

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