Alden Ehrenreich Had Some Hollywood Legends As Mentors For His Directorial Debut

Alden Ehrenreich has had an excellent Hollywood career so far, and while he's best known for his acting work, he's steadily broadening his horizons. His latest venture is directing via the upcoming short film "Shadow Brother Sunday," which sees a musician steal his filmmaker brother's laptop to sell it to the paparazzi. It aims to premiere on June 9, 2023, doing so with some pretty notable names having contributed to it. For his directorial debut, Ehrenreich turned to some cinematic legends to mentor him along.

"I called Joel Coen for advice, and I was really inspired by the production process I experienced on 'Tetro,' which was my very first film, with Francis Ford Coppola, who's executive producing my short, and really is my primary creative mentor. I went up to Napa and sat down with him and recorded a whole interview just asking questions about filmmaking," Ehrenreich shared during an interview with GQ Magazine, expressing how lucky he is to have picked the brains of some truly extraordinary filmmaking icons.

Not only will 2023 host Ehrenreich's first-ever directorial effort, but it has also hosted his return to big-screen acting after a five-year absence. Suffice to say, he's kept busy in front of the camera as of late.

Even though he took the time to learn the directorial ropes on "Shadow Brother Sunday," Alden Ehrenreich still found time to star in a handful of films that call the 2023 release slate home. First and foremost was "Fair Play" from director Chloe Domont, followed by director Elizabeth Banks' absurd comedy "Cocaine Bear" and director Christopher Nolan's historical drama "Oppenheimer." Cinematic returns don't get much bigger than that, and to top it all off, he's also on his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an undisclosed role on the Disney+ series "Ironheart."

Speaking to Uproxx, Ehrenreich discussed his incredible 2023 and shared that his schedule wasn't nearly as hectic as one might think. "It was like, oh right, I can go do this movie for two months and not miss my closest friend's wedding. Or I can be in things a little more often because I remember now that this is what normal-size movies feel like," he shared. Ehrenreich added that he's happy to be back to working his acting muscles making things after so much time away — a leave of absence the COVID-19 pandemic contributed greatly to.

Both as a director and an actor, Alden Ehrenreich's Hollywood future is undeniably bright.