With director George Clooney’s The Tender Bar now streaming on Prime Video, I recently got to speak with Lily Rabe 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. (Tye Sheridan) and his uncle (Ben Affleck), as they bond at a bar overflowing with colorful patrons. The film also stars Ron Livingston, Christopher Lloyd, Max Martini, Briana Middleton, Max Casella. Daniel Ranieri plays the young J.R.
During the interview, Rabe talked about what surprised her about working with George Clooney, why she loved William Monahan’s script, how she prepares for a big scene that he knows will be tough to perform, what it was like telling her parents (Jill Clayburgh and David Rabe) that she wanted to become an actor, getting to work with Christopher Lloyd, and her reaction when she saw Daniel Ranieri’s viral video.
Watch what Lily Rabe had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis.
Lily Rabe
- What was it like telling her parents she wanted to become an actor?
- Did her parents ever give her “the talk” and say don’t become an actor?
- What was it like reading William Monahan’s script for the first time?
- What surprised her about working with George Clooney?
- How long on set before she started asking Christopher Lloyd questions about his amazing career?
- How does she like to get ready for a big scene that she knows will be challenging to pull off?
- What was her reaction when she saw Daniel Ranieri’s viral video?
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."