Kiefer Sutherland confronted with ‘Stand by Me’ bullying claims in Jerry O’Connell reunion

Kiefer Sutherland denies he stayed in character and bullied his “Stand by Me” cast in 1986.

Sutherland, 57, looked back on the 1986 coming-of-age film during Thursday’s episode of “The Talk,” which former co-star Jerry O’Connell co-hosts.

Natalie Morales used Sutherland’s visit to address the viral claim that he would continue to be mean to the movie’s young actors when the cameras stopped rolling.

“Absolutely not true,” Sutherland responded. “First of all, I’m not that kind of actor and I wouldn’t want to be that kind of person. I spent a lot of time with River Phoenix because we both played guitar, and so that was kind of an in to him. Even though I was seven years older, we were both beginning, right? And so there was a lot of discussion about ‘How do you develop a character? What is your process?'”

Although he starred in the film based on Stephen King’s 1982 book “The Body,” he didn’t spend as much time on set with his co-stars as he would’ve liked to.

“I think one of the things that’s been frustrating for me when I think about ‘Stand by Me’ is they always ask me what everybody else was like … We really only had the one big scene at the end where Wil Wheaton pulls the gun and I had to run away like a girl,” he explained.

Sutherland added that he was just 17 during production, to which O’Connell responded: “I felt like you were like 40 … I just thought you were the most grown-up person.”

“Now, I will say that Kiefer did not bully us, there was no bullying. But Kiefer, I was so scared of you,” O’Connell admitted.

Sutherland laughed off O’Connell’s confession, later revealing he saw O’Connell “about 10 years after” — and didn’t recognize him.

“Someone said, ‘Oh, you should go say hi, that’s Jerry O’Connell.’ And I said, ‘No it’s not.’ We said hello and I gave you a big hug and then I walked away and looked at my friend and went, ‘Wow, he’s got a lot better trainer than I do,'” Sutherland shared, causing O’Connell to flex for the cameras.

CBS announced Friday that “The Talk” will end later this year.

The series will return in September for a shorter 15th season and will officially sign off in December.

The final season will get a “proper send-off” in the winter, and will celebrate the legacy of the series.