by Adrienne Chen
Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum loved, as they say, "playing around" on the set of their new movie, Dear John. In fact, if it wasn't for pesky assistants constantly reminding them it was time to film another scene, they, along with director Lasse Halstrom would likely have enjoyed each other's company so much, they would have forgotten that they were actually working.
"Chan and I fool around a lot on set and Lasse is just as playful or more playful, Seyfried said of their days filming. " I mean he'll be like on the internet and the assistant director is like, 'Come on guys we're ready to roll,' and Lasse, Chan & I will be looking up stuff on the internet and laughing. We got in trouble. "
That fun, freeing environment created on the set seems to be exactly what it took to create a film that has a really relaxed, comfy, laid-back feeling to it. According to the actors, that was the way they felt the entire time they were filming.
"The first thing (Lasse) said to me was, I'm gonna give you the same liberty I gave Leo on What's Eating Gilbert Grape," Tatum said of the director giving him creative license. "I was like, what? No! What does that mean? I freaked out a little bit," he said with a grin. "He doesn't come in and say ok this is how I want the scene. It should be like this. We just do the scene first time up and he's not really trying to shape it, he just wants to see where it's gonna go."
Tatum said the playful ease of the environment on set was also present in his relationship with Seyfried.
"The scene where I'm tickling her on the bed and we're just playing around in the room really symbolized me and Amanda's relationship in general, and that I have with my wife. We always just play around. It was really fun to shoot," he said. "It was a good time that way."
Seyfried said moving from filming deep, emotional scenes to just relaxing and being silly was not difficult.
"It was so easy 'cause Chan is so similar to me. We can just jump in and jump out. It's a very safe way to do it. Especially when we were doing some of the really intense love scenes," she said with a giggle. "It was really funny."
Seyfried was a bit anxious about working with Halstrom, at first.
"You really don't know what to expect with him because he's older and really experienced and really intelligent, so it's kind of intimidating, but little do you know, he's a clown in a really fantastic way," she said, adding that she admired his childlike disposition.
"Lasse's a kid. Anyone who can connect to that youth in themselves is just so attractive," she said.
Seyfried's love for the filming process was not based solely on the director's methods. She said she also loved being in Charleston, South Carolina, where much of the film was shot.
"When I got to Charleston, I realized that I'm actually living in the wrong place in LA," she said. "Living in Charleston was a real gift for me."
The love with which she talked about the city suggested that she probably would have stayed there if she hadn't missed Fin, her 4-month-old Australian Shepherd puppy. Seyfried believes his presence in her life is part of what keeps her grounded.
"Perspective is easy. Maybe not for younger people, I mean your *ss is being kissed all the time. But your *ss is being kissed for reasons that don't mean anything," she said. "It's easy for me. I have good people in my life, and I have a really good dog. I miss him like crazy."
Tatum said playing a soldier in the movie did not help him see from the perspective of a soldier.
"They surrounded us with soldiers on this, and that informs you on how they are around each other, but you're never gonna know what its like to be a soldier. I'll never know," he said, somberly. "I don't think anyone does unless you sign up and go fight."
But Tatum said he wants viewers to relate to his character, John, not as a soldier, but as a man who did his job.
"I didn't want people to look at the soldier story in this. I wanted them to look at the two kids falling in love," he said. "John was just a good guy, a good normal guy who happened to be a soldier who falls in love."
Both actors said they are glad to have acted in a film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. While Seyfried feels it was most important just to have played a romantic lead in a film, Tatum read the novel before it was written up as a movie and believes Sparks has a unique gift for writing romantic stories.
"I read it before it was a script, and I knew of Nicholas Sparks and The Notebook, and what that does to my wife," he said, laughing. I love love stories."
As for keeping things in perspective, Tatum seems to be trying to do just that when it comes to dealing with the results of a mishap that occurred on the set of a movie filmed last year, when a production assistant poured boiling water down Tatum's wet suit accidentally, burning his unmentionables.
"It was the most excruciating pain I have ever been in," he said, but added that it was an honest mistake made by a nice guy who had been working hard all day. Apparently the production assistant forgot to mix the boiling water with river water, before pouring it onto Tatum's skin.
"I can laugh about it now," Tatum said. "There was no nerve damage done."
Seyfried said it's just that not-too-serious attitude that makes Tatum fun to work with.
"I realized that Channing is probably the ultimate co-star because he's real," she said. "And he happens to be very successful and gorgeous and all that stuff but none of that actually plays into who he is."
She said working with Tatum and Halstrom was a rewarding experience which lead to the creation of a film she is very pleased to have made.
"It's easy to promote this movie because I'm actually really proud of it. Movies don't always turn out the way you hope," she said. "And this one did."
