Batman star turned coffee salesman (and all-around nice guy) George Clooney paid tribute to his friend Ben Affleck saying he deserved Oscar attention for his role in The Tender Bar. In an interview with Deadline, Clooney explained that Affleck deserves some recognition for how he responded to The Tender Bar’s script.
“I have to say the thing that’s so cool about that is Ben really showed up, and he stuck his neck out, and yes, he’s gotten a SAG award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination,” Clooney explained. “He deserves it. He put his neck out there, and he really worked hard on this, and he hasn’t been acknowledged much as an actor, and he’s a really wonderful actor.”
“I looked at this as a real showcase for Ben, and you know, Ben’s been through the wringer,” he continued. He’s been as high as you could get. He stood on the stage and won a couple of Oscars. He knows what it’s like to be at the top of the game, and he also has had some rough patches. Some of them, as he has said many times, self-inflicted, but he’s a fighter.”
Clooney finished by saying it’d be “lovely if the same sort of attention was carried on [to the Oscars]. I think he would deserve it.” Set in the ’70s, The Tender Bar tells the story of JR Maguire (Tye Sheridan) as he grows up on Long Island with his beloved Uncle Charlie (Affleck), the local bar owner.
Charlie serves as a father figure to young JR, helping to guide him through the trials and tribulations of teenage and young adult life. Sentimental and well-acted, the drama movie was been relatively well-received.
It was enough to win Affleck an Oscar nomination in 2022 in the end.
The Tender Bar is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.