EXCLUSIVE: Tye Sheridan Reflects On Filming ‘Asphalt City’ With Sean Penn & ‘Sweetheart’ Mike Tyson

Actor Tye Sheridan spoke about his experience on the set of the drama Asphalt City in his new uInterview.

Asphalt City centers around a young paramedic (Sheridan), who is assigned the night shift with a seasoned New York City veteran (Sean Penn).

When asked how he was able to adapt his mindset to that of a medical worker, Sheridan told uInterview founder Erik Meers, “Paramedics are very unique. Really understanding from a technical standpoint how they operate, but also, what they experience on a day-to-day basis, on a more emotional, mental level as well, what are the things that they struggle with. I think was super crucial to us in understanding how to convey them in a really authentic light, and I think that was always the intention of the movie, to do something more authentic and something hyper-real.”

Sheridan continued, “We went on a lot of ride-alongside for years, I was going back and forth from New York, and meeting different medics. We got really close with the medics at Wycoff Hospital, and so they were a big part of allowing us to embrace the community through their eyes. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

“Without spoiling too much, the film does kind of find itself in treacherous territory, and I think there’s also a kind of moral dilemma that the characters face in the film, and I think that just trying to wrestle was the most intense aspect, but every day on this film was a challenge,” he added. 

Sheridan fondly remembered his time with co-star Penn.

“Sean’s a really intense guy in a great way,” he said. “You know he’s very engaged in what he’s doing, and I think he has a lot of respect for this community, for first responders. Sean takes it very seriously. When you have collaborators like that who have so much respect for the work. I think that the level rises up. And I think Sean really brought that.”

Former professional boxer Mike Tyson also appears in the film. Despite Tyson’s brawn, Sheridan laughed when reminded of their time on set together.

“[Tyson was] such a sweetheart. I know he can be mean if he wants to but a total sweetheart, so excited to be there. He’s very memorable in the film, he plays the captain of the station, so it was fun kind of getting to do some of these scenes with him where he’s laying down the law and seeing the more intense side of Mike.”

Sheridan shared, “I learned that Mike has an insane sweet tooth. I watched him slam like 30 packets of Sour Patch Kids in like, a one-hour sitting. We were shooting one of the scenes one night, it was a long night, we were moving on to the last shot, and I look over, and in the middle of this five-page scene. I see all these Sour Patch Kids on the binder right in front of Mike, and I look up thinking to myself, ‘For sure we can see this on camera, you know, we can’t use this, I was kind of like, ‘Hey guys, Mike’s got all these Sour Patch Kids.’ He tried to hide them.”

Asphalt City is now in theaters nationwide.