Jerry O'Connell 'Had No Idea' 'Stand By Me' Costar Wil Wheaton Felt 'Forced' to Act by Parents

Jerry O'Connell is speaking out in support of his Stand by Me costar Wil Wheaton after the latter's recent claims that his parents pressured him into acting as a child.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment published last week, Wheaton, 48, said that he "didn't want to be an actor when I was a kid. My parents forced me to do it," adding of his actress mom, "My mother made me do it. My mother coached me to go into her agency and tell the children's agent, 'I want to do what mommy does.' "

Stand by Me is celebrating its 35th anniversary this August — and O'Connell, 47, said on Wednesday's episode of The Talk that "he had no idea" that his "great friend" Wheaton, whom he met while filming the movie as kids over three decades ago, "was feeling this."

"I think what should be said is you have no idea — not even co-workers, just people close to you — you have no idea what is going on with someone," he added. "So if you sense anything amiss, anything weird, it costs you nothing to just go up to them and say, 'Hey is everything okay? Is anything going on? Do you need someone to talk to?' "

"I think just even saying that reaches a hand out to someone," O'Connell said.

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In his recent chat with Yahoo Entertainment, Wheaton said that his experiences at home, though difficult, helped him be able to bring his Stand by Me character, Gordie, to life.

"Through a combination of an incredible emotional abuse from my father and a lot of manipulation, using me, from my mother, like really put me in that place," he said. "Which, as it turns out, put me in the exact place to play Gordie. Because Gordie's experience very much reflected my experience. We're both invisible in our homes. We both have a brother who is the golden child. We're both the scapegoat in the family."

While O'Connell "has great memories from doing" Stand by Me, he also said on The Talk, "Parents can be a lot, not only in the acting world. I have kids who play sports — sometimes in the sports world, parents are demanding. And when people get older, they deal with the ramifications of that."

"But I wish I was older back then so I could've said, 'Hey Wil, hey man, is anything [wrong]?' " he shared. "But I do love Wil, and he's doing great. He does a lot of stuff for Paramount+, for Star Trek. He's doing great."

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Speaking with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's then-Editorial Director Jess Cagle, O'Connell opened up back in 2017 about how starring in the iconic movie at age 11 has had a lasting impact on him to this day.

"[Costars] River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton and [director] Rob Reiner were my best friends," he continued. "We had a summer of just walking around in the woods and goofing around. Rob was really good at rehearsing with us. We didn't even know we were rehearsing. We thought we were playing games."

Of watching the movie back now, O'Connell admitted it can be "tough" — particularly the scenes with his late costar Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose at age 23 in 1993.

"That's emotional because his character passes away in the film," he said. "I watch it when it comes on late at night if I'm just flipping the channels. We have a TV in our bedroom. I know all therapists say that's the wrong thing to do, but my wife and I love it, and you're not getting it out of there."