The lushly romantic Dear John hasn’t even opened yet, but that passionate kiss in the rain between Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum is already generating heat on the Internet.
There are times when the intensity of their scenes together in this film adaptation of author Nicholas Sparks’ bestselling novel seems more than real. But although the web may be working itself into something of a frenzy over these moments, don’t assume there was anything actually happening between the two stars during filming in South Carolina.
Trust Seyfried — an actress known for her big expressive eyes and personal warmth — on this one. Of course, she and Tatum knew they had great chemistry, but if that hadn’t been present, director Lasse Hallstrom would never have cast them together in the first place.
“We’re all actors and we know what’s going on,” she says cheerfully. “We’re not going to go home thinking about our co-star.”
In other words this was just a job — in the same way that the roles of Meryl Streep’s daughter in Mamma Mia or bigamist Bill Paxton’s offspring in the current cable TV hit, Big Love, were jobs.
Still, Seyfried knows full well that actors do fall in love with each other on set.
It happened with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in Woman Of The Year, notoriously with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, and with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. And Mrs. Smith.
Furthermore, it happened to Seyfried and current boyfriend Dominic Cooper when they fell for each other during the filming of Mamma Mia — and to Channing Tatum and wife Jenna Dewan when they starred together in Step Up in 2006.
But with Dear John, both of their significant others were around during the shooting.
Tatum remembers telling his co-star that neither of them should worry about their love scenes.
“I said to her: ‘Look! You have a boyfriend, I have a girlfriend and we’re totally in love. This is safe. We’ve just got to be these characters, and this is absolutely a safe place.’ That’s what I love about acting — you get to do these really emotional and loving characters, because it is safe. There’s no blurring of the lines. You know that you can express your emotions to somebody and there’s no confusion there. You know what you’re doing.”
Seyfried finds romantic chemistry — whether real or onscreen make-believe — fascinating.
“You meet somebody, and you just click,” she muses. “I think that because we’re all actors; it was much easier for our significant others to deal with the fact that we’re playing a love story — and the fact that the love plays so well on screen that you really believe it.”
On-screen chemistry — as opposed to the romantic chemistry that happens in real life — can be elusive. Seyfried had to fight for the role of wealthy southern girl Savannah Curtis in the movie opening Feb. 5. She had met Hallstrom in Sweden when Mamma Mia premiered there — and, she giggles, “That’s where our love affair began. We had a good time, we connected, and he wanted me to do it.”
But her battle wasn’t over yet. “Even though a director wants you, it doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to get the role.”
There remained the big question about whether she would set off sparks with Tatum, who was being eyed for the role of the handsome, sensitive Special Forces soldier she meets when he’s on leave from the wars in the Middle East. The chance encounter between these two deepens into a passionate love, which is placed in jeopardy when they’re once again separated.
Seyfried and Tatum had to do a “chemistry read” — but that wasn’t the end of it. The two had to go back and do some further scenes “because they still weren’t sure.” Only then did it become a “done deal.”
Both the original novel and Jamie Linden’s screenplay for Dear John seek to deliver more than fairy-tale romance — and that’s a clear plus factor for Seyfried.
“I’ve always been subtle to a fault,” she admits. “I like to be more thoughtful.” That’s her approach, whether it’s a piece of musical froth like Mamma Mia, a bittersweet love story like Dear John, or “a very heavy psycho thriller” like Chloe, which comes out later in the year.
In the case of Dear John, she likes the way the story takes unexpected tangents and raises issues about human behaviour and personal relationships. That’s why the character of Savannah intrigued her so much.
“I saw her as a young girl who actually knows herself pretty well at her young age of 22 … which is fine. But she’s had this strict upbringing, She’s very wealthy, but doesn’t put on any airs. She’s cool. She’s special. She’s a good role model, I think, for young women, and I think that’s why she was written that way. There’s nothing weighing her down in her life.”
But then this young woman who “is so level-headed, balanced and open-hearted” must respond to an emotional crisis that, in Seyfried’s words, is “devastating.” Savannah behaves in a way totally alien to Seyfried’s own standards, for example, the “Dear John” letter of the film’s title that sees Savannah breaking off her relationship with John Tyree (Tatum) because she can’t stand being away from him. Asked whether she could ever sever a relationship by letter or e-mail, Seyfried is immediate in her response.
“No, I couldn’t,” she says bluntly. “I’m thinking back on my relationships, and those relationships weren’t the type where you can just do that. I think it’s kind of cowardly.”
She can’t imagine herself behaving the way her character behaves.
“But I love playing people I can’t connect to, because it’s all the more challenging.”
Source: The Province
Write a Comment