Portland actor Matthew Delamater has landed a prominent role in “The Tender Bar,” starring Ben Affleck and directed by George Clooney. Photo by Emily Delamater
Portland actor Matthew Delamater is spending his time these days bellying up to the bar with Oscar winners Ben Affleck and George Clooney.
That’s because Delamater is one of the cast members in Amazon Studios’ production of “The Tender Bar,” which stars Affleck and is directed by Clooney. The movie is about a fatherless boy, played by newcomer Daniel Ranieri, being raised in his uncle’s bar. Filming began in Boston in late February.
Delamater plays one of the “denizens of the bar who teach the boy the ways of American men,” according to a news release from Amazon Studios. Cast in a similar role, as a regular at the bar, is Max Casella, a veteran Hollywood actor known for roles in “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “The Sopranos” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Other cast members include Lily Rabe, Tye Sheridan and Christopher Lloyd.
Delamater has landed many smaller roles in films and TV shows over the past decade or more, while also working in finance at Maine-based Oxbow Brewing Co. He played a political activist in episodes of the NBC drama “American Odyssey” in 2015. He played a store clerk waiting on Mel Gibson, Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg and John Lithgow in “Daddy’s Home 2” in 2017. In 2018, he was a prison guard in an episode of Hulu’s “Castle Rock,” an anthology series inspired by characters and settings created by Maine writer Stephen King.
George Clooney directs “The Tender Bar,” now filming in Boston with Portland actor Matthew Delamater in the cast. Shutterstock
Delamater this week referred questions about his role to a publicist for the film, who said actors would not be available for interviews during production. There is no scheduled release date yet for the film.
Filming of “The Tender Bar” around Boston has continued into March, with the Boston Globe reporting that Affleck was at the Harvard Club of Boston for scenes last Friday. Boston TV station WHDH reported that Clooney was seen at a school Monday in Lynn, a city north of Boston. Based on the memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer J.R. Moehringer, the screenplay was written by William Monahan, who won an Oscar for the 2006 film “The Departed.”
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