![Tye Sheridan on ‘The Order,’ Working With Jude Law & ‘Ready Player Two’ [Interview]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/12121920/Tye-Sheridan-on-%E2%80%98The-Order-Working-With-Jude-Law-%E2%80%98Ready-Player-Two-Interview.jpg "Tye Sheridan on ‘The Order,’ Working With Jude Law & ‘Ready Player Two’ [Interview]")
Taking its cues from the gritty 1970s crime thrillers of Sydney Lumet and perhaps drawing some influence from recent dramas about little-known historical events ala “BlackKklansman” or even “Judas And The Messiah,” the crime drama, “The Order,” is the latest film from Aussie director Justin Kurzel (“Macbeth,” “Nitram”).
Starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan, the film centers on a lone FBI agent (Law) who begins to believe that a series of bank robberies and car heists frightening communities in the Pacific Northwest are the work of a dangerous domestic terrorist and white supremacist group. With the help of a young local cop and family man (Sheridan), the agent begins to track and get closer to discovering their charming leader (Hoult).
Co-starring the excellent ensemble cast of Jurnee Smollett, Alison Oliver, Marc Maron, Odessa Young and more, “The Order” is a searing, patient and gripping drama, leaving much for the intelligent viewer to intuit. Beyond its political relevancy to January 6 (which influenced the movie) and the rise of white nationalism across the world, but especially in America, it’s also a film about family and community, albeit not the best ones for you (read our review).
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We spoke to Tye Sheridan a few weeks before the film came out to discuss its political relevancy at the moment, working with Jude Law and director Justin Kurzel, the status of “Ready Player Two” and looking back on working with Terrence Malick on “The Tree Of Life.”
I just saw the movie last night, and it’s left quite a mark on me. It’s obviously super timely and politically relevant. What spoke to you when you first read this material and was offered the role?
It could probably be released at any point in time and be relevant. I think we tend to think about movies in terms of the time of their release and what they have to say. But the truth is, you know this happened in the early, mid-‘80s, and it was one of the first instances of a large-scale domestic terror threat. And I think, at that time, it was probably pretty shocking, especially for those living in the community where it was all taking place. The film is largely about family and also law enforcement officers who have to serve law and order and are willing to sacrifice everything. their families are willing to make sacrifices so for the betterment of their communities to uphold democracy and ensure the safety of a nation.
And I think different people will take away different things from the film, regardless of where they’re from, or what time they think this movie kind of speaks to. So, that’s what partly drew me to the movie, that it was just so all encompassing and so compelling in that regard. And it had really great characters and all these different perspectives. And not only that kind of big, universal, provocative themes, but I think really allows audiences the opportunity to kind of connect with these characters, both the good guys and the “bad guys,” on a really human level, and to understand their ideologies and peel back the layers of their communities and their families and why they feel the way that they do.
And I think a lot of movies don’t tend to capture that as well. This film does. And so I think hats off to Zach Bailyn, the screenwriter, and Justin [Kurzel] and, you know, all the amazing folks kind of involved in the film who are willing to get down to that core. So, yeah, it was a really exceptional opportunity to jump into a film with a lot of great talent, an amazing story that needed to be told that had a lot of resonant themes.
There’s an easy dispassion or non-judgmental to it all and you almost empathize with the idea of disenfranchisement, ut not obviously lionizing it either. In terms of that, was that on the page? Because in the way they’re all drawn, there are a lot of nice ambiguities.
For sure, for sure. I think, to some extent, we all feel that kind of pain because we’re all kind of alone on our own journeys through life. Ultimately, people are human, regardless of the wrongs that they do. They’re human. People commit some very wrong crimes, and have a lot of ideologies that are extreme and wrong and hateful. But the truth is that these things come from somewhere. And to have a positive effect on that, to have a positive change on anything, I think you really need to get down to the root of understanding what are the core issues. And I think today, we live in a time where it’s trendy to put labels on people and put people in a box. And you can’t do that with humans. We’re really complex. In fact, we don’t even understand ourselves all that well, I don’t think. And I think this movie does really examine the humans deep down in why they are the way they are. And for me, I come from a really small town in Texas, not unlike Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where this story takes place, right?
And I’ve obviously gone very different directions, and some of the people that I grew up with in my life, I can see, being from a small community myself, how people, when they when they hear a powerful voice, they’re susceptible to being compelled by that and to then find yourself in this echo chamber. Typically, we surround ourselves with people who are like minded, or we want to be more like psychologically. That’s what we do, that’s what a community is, just to some extent. And I think you really, when you see the when you’re in this echo chamber, you lose the baseline. And I think that’s what this, this film, really shines a light on in terms of the order and their ideologies. And I think that’s what people need to understand. I don’t think you can take it at the surface and put people in categories and put labels on them. It’s much more complex than that. I think the movie really excels in that regard.
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Tell me about working with both Jude [Law] and Justin [Kurzel], who I think is a really terrific filmmaker, and I think has done a wonderful job with this.
There was definitely something magical about the collaboration in this film. Justin has this kind of emotional gravitas that he carries. And, you know, he can get on anyone’s emotional wavelength. And I think that’s what makes people feel so comfortable with him. It’s why he’s able to get these the most amazing performances out of his actors. I have always been a fan of his body of work, even before I met him and had an opportunity to work with him. And I always wondered, how does he get these amazing performances? I saw it firsthand. And so I think what it allowed us to do, Jude and I and all the other cast and everyone involved with the film, was just build this trust and bond with each other and feel like you were so attuned to what the film was hitting at. It allowed you to keep peeling back the layers and the complexity and go to the darkest corners of the scene or your character and make interesting decisions. And that was always the process; it just went deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. So, it’s amazing when you have people that are that open and like-minded and share a similar vision.
And Jude was no different. Jude is incredibly talented and, obviously, somebody I’ve admired for a long time. And to get to see his process unfold in front of me, to see how much dedication he has to the craft and how much work he does in preparation for his roles, was admiraa fantasticet, like he’s still trying to make everyone around him the best that they can be. He’s an amazing collaborator in that regard. He’s willing to be thrown the curve balls and see where they go. And so, we had a lot of really interesting experiences together. And I hope it’s not the last time we all get to work together because it was a truly amazing experience.
I want to ask a little bit about the future and other things that you’re doing. Steven Spielberg said “Ready Player Two” was being developed earlier this year. Is that something that you are doing at some point? And is he coming back?
I’m not sure to tell you the truth, and I don’t get to make those decisions. That’s not my role. But “Ready Player One” was such a fun and kind of a dream project. I got to work with one of my childhood heroes, Steven. His movies affected me as a kid. I would be a different kid without him. So it was a terrific experience. And I think people seem to respond positively to the film, and we’ll see. Fingers crossed, right?
There’s this project called “The Exceptionals,” on which I believe that you’re a co-writer. Is that correct? Tell me a little bit about that.
Oh yeah, that was a project that I started working on with a friend of mine, and it was a long time ago. It was a documentary project, which is on the back burner.
It’s interesting that you are moving to writing, though. Is that something that you’re going to keep pursuing?
Yeah, I think writing is something that I’ve always done. I think it’s what kind of got me into storytelling from an early age, and then I found movies. I didn’t know anything about movies, and so I found myself on this film set of a Terrence Malick movie. All these people come together, and everybody has a specific job, and this whole village comes together around this one story. Then, I want to see how those stories could be shared with the world and compel people. I just foundthat whole process amazing. I became intoxicated with that. And so I’m just intoxicated with making movies and trying to make good movies. So, if that means writing my own screenplay, directing a film, producing a film, or acting in a movie, I just want to be a part of good projects. So yeah, I’m open to all of the above.
You mentioned Malick. How do you look back on it now? You started your career with Terrence Malick.
I don’t know. I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t think there was a better project to start with. Looking back on that experience, I never read a script. I didn’t know anything about the story. I think Terry was interested in just letting us be us, letting boys be boys. And so it was a intimate, organic experience. And never had to memorize lines or anything like that. It was kind of improvised. And which is interesting, because I thought all movies were made that way. I thought it was just how movies were made. People just come up with ideas on the spot. But it was great because I think it taught me how to do that early on, and I always liked that.
Of course, there are certain beats to hit in a scene with every story. And you’re going from point A to point B, but along that trajectory, it’s fun to ride a wave and go into different directions, and sometimes it leads you to exciting places. So yeah, I always think back on that experience fondly. And a lot of excellent memories and great people, Terry included, and a great film. It’s like seeing it as a kid; it was way over my head, but I’ve since gone back and seen that film as an adult, and it’s pretty hard to put into words.
“The Order” is in theaters now via Vertical.
