Channing Tatum has a new movie out called Roofman. It co-stars Kirstin Dunst, Peter Dinklage, Ben Mendelsohn, Juno Temple, LaKeith Stanfield, and Uzo Aduba. It’s based off of a wild but true story about Jeffrey Manchester, who got caught breaking into fast food restaurants through their roofs. After he escaped from prison, he hid out in a Toys “R” Us in Charlotte, NC for months. You can read more about it here. It’s truly nuts.
Speaking of nuts, Channing has quite the tale to tell about an on-set injury he acquired. It happened while filming a scene in which he had to run and hide from the Toys “R” Us manager, played by Dinklage. His character was caught in the shower and had to make his way back to his secret hideout. Unfortunately for Channing, he had a mishap that led to him missing a mark and getting a huge gash on his leg. Oh, and did I mention that he was naked for this whole scene?
“I mean, it wasn’t great, because I’m butt naked, so I can’t wear pads or anything,” Tatum tells Entertainment Weekly. “So I was wet and soapy, and it was just a messy scene. I did actually get hurt jumping up onto the bike rack, and then I had to do the funny jump into my little hideaway. I didn’t make it over the edge of the hideaway, and I gashed my [leg]. I still have a scar from it on my leg, and we just had to glue it together and keep going.”
Despite all that, Tatum says the injury isn’t what he remembers most about that sequence. “I think the most memorable thing, though, is looking at Derek [Cianfrance, the director] and going, ‘How are we shooting this? Because at any angle, you’re going to see stuff,'” he recalls, laughing at the thought. “And he’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to figure it out.’ And I’m like, ‘What’s figure it out mean? Because you’re right behind me as I’m jumping up on the thing. You’re going to be right down the barrel.'”
In the end, he’s still not exactly sure what magic Cianfrance conjured so that the audience doesn’t see Tatum in all his glory. “I think they had to paint some stuff out. And I don’t actually know how that happened. I think there was some… they had to figure out what to do with certain things,” he says.
Cianfrance never had any doubt that Tatum could pull it all off, though. “Here’s the guy who’s made biopics of his life as a stripper,” the director says, referring to Tatum’s Magic Mike films. “And I knew how brave he was. I knew how courageous he was as a performer.”
Of course, it takes two to tango, and Cianfrance, who also co-wrote the film with Kirt Gunn, credits Tatum’s scene partner for his part in the shenanigans. “I had to ask Peter, I was like, ‘I want to make sure you’re okay with what you’re going to see now,'” Cianfrance recalls. “And he was like, ‘What does that mean?’ And I was like, ‘Well, Channing’s naked, and you’re going to have to see him naked. Are you okay with that?'”
Cianfrance continues, “And he consented to that. So the moment when Peter comes out of the break room and sees Channing — the first time Peter ever saw Channing Tatum in real life, it was the full Monty. That’s how they were introduced to each other. I think they have a bond now. I think their bond is forged in fire.”
Recounting his side of the introduction, Tatum says, “I’m like, ‘Hello, Mr. Dinklage. I’m Channing. We’re going to have an experience today.’ But he’s such a man. He is a legend. He’s an absolute legend.”
“And he’s so good in this movie, by the way. He’s kind of my favorite part of the movie, secretly on the down low, don’t tell Kirsten [Dunst],” he jokes, referring to his costar, who plays his love interest Leigh Wainscott. “Yeah, he just made things easy and funny and fun.”
Oh my goodness, that is quite the mishap! While it’s not funny that he got such a gash that it left a scar, it is kind of funny to picture a nakedChanning Tatum running along and slipping in a soap and watery mess. It’s actually even funnier when you add in the filming logistics and Peter Dinklage. Again, I hate that he got hurt, but I also need (maybe tastefully blurred out) bloopers of this scene. Just for research purposes, of course. This all makes for a great story, though. Channing can always pull out that time that he flopped his dong around in front of Tyrion Lannister. He runs naked and he knows things!
Channing also showed up on the Roofman red carpet with daughter, Everly, 12, and his girlfriend of eight-ish months, 26-year-old model Inka Williams. Channing and Inka gave a big kiss for the cameras. Inka’s hair and makeup looked great, but her dress wasn’t doing it for me. I just don’t like the weird, asymmetrical neckline. It also looks like the leg slit didn’t go all the way down. Like, why? It wasn’t the Tron premiere. At least then, it would look like she’s going futuristic. She’s so pretty, but this is just too frumpy for me.
Photos credit: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon, James Shaw/Avalon, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Getty
I saw a trailer for this recently and thought it looked great and fun, then I read a write up (maybe on Pajiba) where they pointed out that while the trailer sells it as an indie rom-com the actual film is much darker and pretty sad throughout.
Having been caught like this by Wicked Little Letters (a great movie but NOT the comedy the trailer sold it as) and to some extent by The Critic I’ll be avoiding it. We saw A House of Dynamite at the cinema a week or so back and that’s me done with serious fare for a while.
I really enjoy Channing Tatum, but I’m skeeved out that his new girlfriend is closer in age to his daughter than his. I mean he’s almost 20 years older than her. Shrug.
Saw this last weekend and really enjoyed it!