Channing Tatum, an actor and film producer, shared why he declined a role in Derek Cianfrance’s 2010 drama Blue Valentine, as reported by People.
“I was reminded that about 20 years ago, I took on one of my first significant acting roles. Derek saw it and believed in me long before I believed in myself,” Tatum said while accepting the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Performer Award at the TIFF Tribute Awards, according to the media outlet.
“That’s why I think I couldn’t take on that journey. I was just … scared,” he continued, “I was absolutely terrified of that role in particular, so I didn’t go for it.”
After seeing Tatum’s performance in the 2006 drama A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Cianfrance considered casting him in his film. “He possesses this physicality — a body that can narrate stories,” commented the director about Tatum.
Tatum reflected, “I think I blocked it out because I probably regret it on some level,” he admitted. “Looking back, I was afraid of it because I hadn’t truly experienced it.”
Blue Valentine narrates the “story of a married couple, Dean and Cindy, whose relationship unravels throughout the movie, told in a nonlinear way.”
Tatum disclosed another reason for rejecting the intense role was that he “hadn’t been in such a relationship at that time.”
“I didn’t think I could handle it. I was just beginning to act,” he remarked, adding that when he and Cianfrance collaborated on Roofman, the director “reminded me of that.”
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I know.’ I definitely … wish I had done it. But I think Ryan nailed it,” Tatum added. “So I don’t feel it was meant for me.”
Roofman features Tatum as the real-life criminal Jeffrey Manchester, infamous for robbing 45 McDonald’s restaurants and once evading capture by secretly living in a Toys “R” Us store. The film follows Manchester’s six-month hideout inside the store, including his romance with a divorced mom (Kirsten Dunst).
