By Mason Sansonia

The drama All These Small Moments is coming to theaters January 17 and On Demand/Digital HD on January 18. In the movie, a teenage boy’s infatuation with a woman he sees on the bus further complicates his already tumultuous adolescence. The movie stars Brendan Meyer and Molly Ringwald (who fans will recognize from Riverdale). And the movie was selected for the official 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. YEM spoke with All These Small Moments lead Brendan Meyer about the movie and his career.

Young Entertainment Mag: How did you first get into acting? Was there a particular event, or thing that made you want to take it on and keep doing it?

Brendan Meyer: I don’t think there was one specific moment. I went to a lot of kids plays when I was younger. I imagine some of that must have seeped in. But, I don’t know – I kind of wanted to be an actor for as long as I can remember. It’s hard to pinpoint one sort of moment where I wanted to do it. I remember being 4 or 5 and running around talking about being an actor.

YEM: What is one thing in your acting career that has surprised you? Some aspect of it or occasion that you never saw coming?

Brendan: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I’m always just surprised by how quickly you’re able to form bonds with people and get to know people. I feel like when you’re put together to work on some kind of project you really become this quick family with the cast and the crew while you’re shooting. The times that I’ve been able to work on something for a long period of time I think what’s always surprised me is that secondary component, where obviously you get the work and being on set and the acting, but the other side that’s sort of fulfilling and interesting is how many different people you get to be exposed to and get to know really well.

Some of them you stay friends with forever, some of them you never really see again. And some of them you only see every now and then. But in that moment you really get to have that intense experience together. So that’s kind of the other side of it that I maybe didn’t really think about a lot when I was first starting.

Photo Courtesy of Orion Classics

YEM: Was there an aspect of the script that really caught your attention for All These Small Moments? Something that stood out as particularly fascinating?

Brendan: I just think the overall arc of Howie’s relationship with Odessa was interesting to me. The idea of this woman that he didn’t know very much about and was obviously quite a bit older and not in his appropriate age range and sort of the idea of how he had this idealized view of her and he filled in all the blanks. I think that people do that all the time with other human beings – also with certain things in life you, certain achievements – fill in the blanks and think “oh I get this” or “this works out”.

Then, of course, Howie comes to the more he knows about her, the more complicated and messy the picture gets and the more he maybe starts to see the complications in her that he can maybe see in his own home life and family. She becomes a more complicated and 3 dimensional person. I think that’s an interesting arc that I responded to a lot.

YEM: In what ways do you feel closest to your character, Howie Sheffield? Events in his life, parts of his personality, etc.? Where do you feel furthest?

Brendan: I think one of the furthest aspects right off the bat is probably just the relationship with his parents. I think that my parents have always had a really, really great relationship and never had a rocky patch. I do have a younger brother so I can relate to that pretty well. But my younger brother and I were never in a situation where mom and dad were fighting or dad was sleeping on the couch. That was never a part of our reality, ever. So I think that was an interesting thing that was new.

I had to think about it – okay if I was in this situation at this age where my parents were not this solid foundation to look at, how would it affect me and where would I go looking for other places for what was missing there? So I think the way I most related to him was – I think he has a really great individuality to him.

I related to his individuality. And how that would make him strive to want to be seen as a little bit older. I feel like a lot of people do, but when I was 16/17 I really liked hanging out with older people and wanted to be seen as a little more mature, but I think a lot of people want that.

Photo Courtesy of Orion Classics

YEM: Who do you think will relate to this film the most? Someone who will walk out of the theater feeling something powerful?

Brendan: I think it will connect to someone that has emotional connection to what’s going on. Maybe recognize something that they relate to or something in one of the lines that the characters said. I definitely think that people that went through a difficult time, whether the family did go through a divorce or had to go to counseling.

I think that what’s interesting about the movie. Melissa does present every side of it with a lot of detail. It’s all very rich. The parents all this focus and a lot of great monologues as Howie and Simon, the kids, go deep in their reactions to everything. I think anyone who has been a child involved in something like that or has been one of the parents or a couple in a relationship like that will have some level of emotional reaction if they see themselves in it, which hopefully they do.

YEM: What’s next on your agenda? What projects should we look for you in in the future?

Brendan: I was in season 1 of “The OA” on Netflix. And I will be appearing again in season 2. I can’t say exactly when it’s coming out. But I think that’ll be the next thing that I’m in for you to look for.