What about working with Bel?
Sheridan: Bel’s the type of person who’s so confident but not overly confident. She doesn’t have an ego, but everything she does is so great. And she brought so much to this story. I think sometimes, when a man is writing a woman, you can’t possibly understand exactly what a woman thinks because you’re not a woman. You can write it the best you can, but you always hope you’re going to get someone who has their own interpretation of the role, their own views, and will further the role. And Bel did. She just made this character her own and brought so much to it.
Anything crazy happen with the three of you off camera?
Sheridan: We spent a lot time time just sitting in a car in South Africa. We did go to this really crazy desert town called Barrydale, where everyone got really sick. We were there for about a week or two. It was like five hours north of Cape Town. We were shot the diner scene in Barrydale. They had a local bar with one pool table, and we’d all play pool after shooting. It was really fun.
Did anyone recognize you?
Sheridan: No, no one ever recognizes me. And why would they? Honestly, I could count on one hand the amount of times people recognized me since X-Men came out. I think right now, it works to my advantage.
What was it like shooting in South Africa?
Sheridan: So cool. It’s supposed to take place in the desert between L.A. and Las Vegas, but because Chris had shot another movie in South Africa, so we did ours there. It was a crazy idea, but we were like yeah, let’s do it. He knew some of the locations and the terrain and knew we could get away with it.
Two weeks before we went out to South Africa, he’d send me all these pictures of highways in South Africa. He’d go, “Do they have yellow lines on the outside of the road? American roads don’t have that, what do you think? How can we fix it? Can we shoot around it?” It was hilarious because he was getting cold feet, but once we were there, we realized we were able to cheat it.
It sounds like you were also a big part of the pre-production of the film. Is that something you like doing?
Sheridan: That’s how I typically like to work. It’s easier for me as an actor if I understand every aspect of the film. Not that I’m a control freak or anything, but honestly, before I step into frame for the shot, I look at the monitors, so I can understand where I am in the frame. Technically, that helps me so much as an actor. I know how far right, how far left, what I can and can’t get away with.
Not only that, but also understanding the world as well. Getting with Chris and making sure we are getting as close as we can to his visions. That it’s the same voice from both of us. Trying to figure out the right approach is always great for me. Preparation and casting, that’s like 80 percent of your work.
You were great as the young Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse. Do you know much about next X-Men movie? I think it’s called Supernova?
Sheridan: Oh really? I didn’t even know there was a title. I’m not really one to troll the Internet about this kind of stuff. I just sit around waiting for the phone call… I am a fan of the franchise and so to have the opportunity to be a part of it was really cool for me.
But no real word on what’s happening next?
Sheridan: I haven’t heard. I know that the way these films work, typically they stay on the same pattern. They’ll make one one summer and then the next, it comes out. Then they’ll make another. I think that’s how these bigger franchises typically work. So, it would make sense that we would do another and hopefully I’m in it.
That concludes our interview, but we’d like to thank Tye very much for his time. Be sure to check out Detour, as it’s now in theaters everywhere!