How Roofman’s Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst Brought True Story to Screen | Interview

Roofman stars Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst spoke with ComingSoon about the film’s story of humanity and their approach to playing real-life characters. It is now available on Digital to rent and own.

“The film follows Jeffrey Manchester, a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname: Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys ‘R’ Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move,” reads the official synopsis. “But when he falls for Leigh, a divorced mom drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.”

Tyler Treese: Channing, I thought you were phenomenal in this. There’s this great ending to the film where you talk about having no desire to escape, and then it cuts to a screen saying Jeffrey tried to attempt two more escapes afterwards. How is it leaning into his humanity and bringing that to the screen when his words and actions didn’t always line up?

Channing Tatum: You know, I got to talk to him a lot. Almost every day for two, almost two months leading up to the film. And I had all these expectations, these projections of who he could be, who he was. You know, I’d talked a lot to Derek before I even jumped off of that cliff to meet him or meet him over the phone. And I don’t know, you know, even reading the script, I felt like I had just understood him on some level. I don’t really know how to exactly explain that. There’s nothing really I can put my finger on in the actual script that I go, “Oh, this is me,” or whatever. It was more of just like, I get the feeling of not knowing your own worth without having something to give or that it’s you that’s worth loving. It’s whatever you can provide, I guess.

It’s just the way that he would go about doing things, you know? It’s not the way I would, but I somehow related to it on some level. And maybe it’s because I have a daughter, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do if I couldn’t provide. To be able to do that. And then I just talked to him, and you can tell that he definitely is… he’s smart. He really cares. He’s genuinely caring, but I guarantee you, like, he could say something that he really means, but then, if something happens that he doesn’t feel like that is right or something justice-wise, he’s gonna go and do the opposite. He’s gonna be like, “No, that’s not okay.”

And he’s gonna tell himself whatever story that he needs to tell himself to justify whatever that opinion or behavior is gonna be. And I think that’s human. I think we all tell ourselves whatever stories that we need to kind of get by. I’m blanking on an example right now, but if I don’t want to go out, like to meet my friends, I’ll be like, “Ah, you know, look, I gotta work in the morning, and I don’t have to work in the morning.” But I just didn’t wanna go out, you know? But I tell myself, you know, that I’m gonna be better off in the morning, you know, when I wake up and have to take my daughter to school and whatnot. You know, you tell yourself, you tell a lot of people stories that might not be true just ’cause you want them to be true on some level.

Kirsten, your character, Leigh, really sees the best in people. I thought it was really powerful at the end, even though she’s been lied to, she’s still led with this gratefulness and positivity. What really resonated with you about the character?

Kirsten Dunst: Well, that’s how the real Leigh feels about what they went through together. Grateful to be alive with Jeff, had this experience, and it was a real adventure for her, and so that was kind of like the feeling that I held onto. It’s very much a love story. So, I didn’t want anything to feel inauthentic or that this mother isn’t taking care of her children. There’s a lot of complicated nuances within this relationship that your instincts are saying, “What’s going on here?” But you also really, really genuinely love and care about this person, and he’s come into your life in such a beautiful, fun, and alive way that I think that that is very powerful. So, I think that it is a sad love story, but she still feels very grateful towards Jeff and all that they went through together.

Source: Comingsoon.net