Snack Shack focuses on two best friends who began working at a community pool snack shack in Nebraska City during the summer of 1991. The lifelong friends are played by Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle, and they certainly went all in on their characters. From spending time together before the movie, visiting the hometown of their director, where the film was shot and took place, to actually getting down to write the film’s signature f— dogs, both Sherry and LaBelle give it their all in this film.

Curious as to what the key is to perfectly writing out a word on a hot dog? “We had a lot of practice, and there are pictures of napkins across the whole bar…I think a lot of it comes down to the thickness of the mustard or ketchup you get,” Sherry said. “I didn’t write a single f— dog,” added LaBelle. “All of that was Conor, so he was easily champ.”

Sherry and LaBelle sat down with MovieWeb to talk about making Snack Shack, their own experiences they drew from when making the movie, and some great advice and guidance they have received in their careers.

Real-Life Inspiration Behind Snack Shack
Snack Shack 3.5/5 Release Date March 15, 2024 Director Adam Rehmeier

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Conor Sherry plays the role of A.J., the main character and, in many ways, the surrogate character for director Adam Rehmeier, as he was based heavily on himself when he was a youth in 1991. Sherry has appeared in several projects, including roles in Are You Afraid of the Dark and The Terminal List, but Snack Shack is easily his biggest film, stepping into the lead role. Not only did he draw from the director, but also his own experience to inform his character. Sherry explained:

“I think I really do feel that almost every character and experience that A.J. has, I kind of had someone in my life that fulfilled that same sort of energy or a combination of the few. Definitely, there’s the Shane relationship. I definitely had a guy that was kinda cooler than me, cooler than my family, give me the lowdown, and that was really cool growing up. I mean, of course, my best friends, I just reconnected with them recently over this, my fifth-grade group, and they’re stoked to see it because there’s all the same s**t we did.”

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Gabriel LaBelle plays Moose, the much louder and more confident friend who Rehmeier says is heavily inspired by his best friend growing up. LaBelle has emerged as one of the most exciting young talents in recent years. His role as Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans garnered him much critical praise and was a performance many thought was overlooked by the Academy Awards. His next project includes Jason Reitman’s upcoming SNL 1975, where he will play Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels. After playing a stand-in for Steven Spielberg and now set to play one of television’s most notable producers for Snack Shack, LaBelle got to tap into a bit more of himself.

“I was a very extroverted kid, so I think I related to Moose in that matter. But then the shenanigans and the mannerisms I definitely pulled from kids around me, whether it’s from my brother or some of my cousins or family and friends,” said LaBelle. “He was definitely an amalgamation of extroverts I knew in my life, and going back to old footage of me as a teenager with my friends being idiots and actually doing shenanigans, because when you have a camera in your front pocket, you record everything, and I’m really grateful to have all of that. So it was really nice reconnecting [to] how you existed as a 14-year-old.”

How Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle Bonded

From the film’s opening sequence, these two have a chemistry that leaps off the screen and feels very real. It’s hard not to believe they haven’t been lifelong friends. Fortunately, they were given some prep time before the movie began shooting to get to know one another and explore the town they were filming in, which would be home to both their characters and themselves for a while. Sherry explained:

We got a really cool opportunity to actually get out to Nebraska City, which is where our director actually grew up and the story is based in. We got out there two weeks early. No camera, no crew, and we just got to do exactly what Moose and A.J. do. And so that was really cool. And that was huge for us, really fun.

“Yeah, we just got to get to know each other and got along really well with Adam and each other. It was really cool to walk on the streets and the same neighborhoods and houses that Adam spent a lot of time in. So it really felt like home,” added LaBelle. “It really felt so good, and we spent time with Adam’s parents at Adam’s parents’ house. It really did feel like this huge, extended homecoming, and we all felt very comfortable.”

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The duo spoke highly of Adam Rehmeier as a director and a screenwriter. One of the best parts about Snack Shack is the realistic dialogue between the two boys. It seems naturalistic, which might lead some to think the film is heavily improv’d. Though, a lot of that is the script itself.

“Adam was very open with us, and we were allowed to definitely improv moments, but the final product that then made it into the film, that’s all Adam, it’s all his words,” said LaBelle. “I think it made a really amazing dynamic as an actor because I didn’t feel confined, like needing to hit every single line, and at the perfect time. But he made sure he was getting what he needed to do justice to his exact script and the beats he mapped out while giving us the freedom to hit each other, push, throw an insult in there randomly. And that really helped with the whole banter.”

“Christian James and Michael Bonini, who played the Carmichaels, the older kids who give us a hard time, they were incredible improvisers. They were cracking us up all the time. There were definitely a lot of insults going back and forth that I was sad not to see,” said Sherry. “But Adam was just such a brilliant writer. Pretty much maybe like I have two lines or two sentences that weren’t in the actual script. Adam’s writing is just that brilliant.”

Sherry (and his co-stars, Mika Abdala and Nick Robinson) shared that when it came to improv, there was one person who was the best on set. “Gillian Vigman, who played my mom, is a master improviser. There was one scene I did with her and David Costabile, who was equally as brilliant, that I thought was so good. The scene continued and I was like ‘I didn’t, I don’t know what my line is.’ And I realized that they were just making it up.”

Advice for Young Stars

LaBelle and Sherry seem like they could be the next big stars in Hollywood. They both have impressive resumes and look to have even more exciting futures ahead of them. They have also worked with some incredibly talented people over the years and have learned a lot. They have had knowledge passed onto them and can also pass it on to others.

“I think I got a lot of really great specific advice when I was first starting out. Probably, the most sort of notable person I worked with was Chris Pratt on The Terminal List, and what I learned from that as my first job ever was honestly the way that he led us on set. Because he was obviously the lead, but he was also executive producer, and he just took the lead,” said Sherry. He delved into a specific moment of Pratt on set that has stuck with him.

“We were shooting in like a graveyard. He did a whole moment of silence and respect for the place we were shooting and gave this really beautiful speech before we filmed in this sort of sacred space. I think I’ve been really fortunate. I’ve worked with a lot of really good people to idolize and kind of try to follow in the footsteps of for sure.”

LaBelle’s last movie saw him working with Steven Speilberg, one of the best directors of all time and a highly respected and celebrated figure in cinema history, and sharing scenes with great character actors like Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch. “I think through just osmosis, you learn lessons. Like Conor was saying, you definitely observe people you look up to. The people you want to emulate and people you want to be like, people that inspire you, leaders especially.” LaBelle also gave some practical advice for anyone looking to start acting:

Advice for people who want to act: make sure you like it because it’s really stressful, and just learn what works best for you. Because everyone works differently.

These young actors certainly seem to know what works best for them. Check out a clip of Snack Shack below and see the movie in theaters on Mar. 15, 2024.