

Ellery Sprayberry, 16, has been acting ever since she could remember. Her latest movie Wakefield, in which she plays the daughter of Jennifer Garner, 45, and Bryan Cranston, 61, was released on May 19, before being released via video on demand on May 26. The movie was praised by critics and audiences alike. Acting runs in the Sprayberry family, too. Ellery’s brother is Dylan Sprayberry, 18, who plays Liam on MTV’s Teen Wolf. HollywoodLife.com got the chance to chat EXCLUSIVELY with Ellery about what it was like working with some of Hollywood’s greatest actors, her brother, and other projects she’s working on! Check out our interview below!
What was it like to work with Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner?
Ellery: Oh my gosh, they’re just the most down to earth people. Jennifer, I loved her so much. She’s just a mom. She’s so caring and so sweet. She just literally cares about everyone. You know, she just wants to make sure everyone’s OK, and I remember one day we were on the way to set in the van, and she was on the phone talking about girl stuff with her daughter. She’s just super sweet. It was really cool to work with people that are so praised and well-known. Bryan is incredible. He’s super nice, too, and intelligent and brilliant. One time, we were all talking, and he did his Trumbo impression and we were all freaking out. It was such an awesome experience. These were just really great people.
What drew you to the role of Giselle?
Ellery: She was just a very young girl living life, and I really liked her arc. She starts off in a really happy family, then throughout the movie her dad goes missing and it’s really hard for her. She also has a sister, too. It really drew me to her to play with that darkness of her dad leaving and not being able to find him. It was a really cool role.
I feel like Jennifer and Bryan are America’s mom and dad. Did they give you any advice about Hollywood or life in general?
Ellery: There’s actually a really cool photo where Bryan was talking to us about the industry and how you just have to work hard, and the picture of me and Victoria, my sister in the movie, is of him talking to us really intensely. He did talk to us about really having to work at it and you’ll get there. Jennifer and I really connected a great deal. At the end, she gave me her phone number and her email and said, “If you ever need anything. Like anything at all, just text me. I’m always here.” Bryan also talked to us about the industry a little bit and said it can be annoying and hard, but you’ll get there if you work hard.
Do you prefer TV over film?
Ellery: It kind of depends. I wouldn’t say I prefer one over the other because they’re both great and so different. Movies are fun because it’s usually anywhere from a month to six months that you’re filming and you can really connect to some great people and have a lot of fun and go some cool places. Shows are also really great because you kind of become a family if it goes on for seasons. I started off doing more TV stuff and I really, really liked that. Then I got more into movies. They’re both great, and I love doing them both, but movies like Wakefield are what I like to do best. They’re just intense, and I think the part that got me is that he’s in the basement right below us, and we don’t even think about it. That’s so crazy to me. Movies like that are my passion.
What are you working on now or what do you have coming up?
Ellery: I have little art piece, a kind of short film thing I filmed with my friend. It’s going to be 20 minutes, and we’re going to submit it into festivals but also going to art galleries. We’re doing it in LA, Paris, and a couple of other places. It’s about a girl whose parents are fighting, and there’s an atomic explosion and I go to some foreign place. It’s me pretty much talking to myself for 30 pages. My character’s name is Gwen and there’s her ego and logic. Ego is the one that’s saying let’s party, let’s go out, and then logic is saying you really need to think about what you’re doing. That was really, really awesome to play. Every character was so different. We just finished some ADR on it, so that’ll come out in a couple of months. Those are some of things I have cooking right now. I am also writing a script so that’s exciting.
You and your brother have been in the business since you were little kids, does working in the industry bond you guys? Are you guys super close?
Ellery: We’ve always been close, ever since we were really little. I’ve been in the industry since I can remember and that definitely gives us something to relate to. I’m really lucky to have my brother because I know a lot of teenagers, and even adults, aren’t as close to their siblings. Working in Hollywood definitely does bring us together and gives us something to connect on. I had an audition yesterday and he came by before and ran my sides with me. Being able to work on things together is really cool and it gives us something to have in common.
HollywoodLifers, have you seen Wakefield? Let us know!