The phrase “Dear John” conjures images of war-worn heartbreak and heart-wrenching romantic drama. But as the stars of this month’s movie of the same name (based on the Nicholas Sparks novel), Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried argue that this isn’t a saccharine love story or a violent war drama, but rather a timely and gritty story that makes viewers think about what love can endure.
In Dear John, out Feb. 5, John meets Savannah on Spring Break, and the two fall in love. But as John’s military commitments separate them, they write each other letters to stay in touch. As time goes by, they are faced with the same challenges most long-distance couples combat.
We recently chatted with the young stars about preparing for their roles as the romantic leads, their thoughts on everything from kissing in the rain to G.I. Joe, and why Dear John is more like Avatar than you might think. Oh, and Channing is a hopeless romantic.
By Maghan McDowell; Photos by Scott Garfield
Do you think the market is oversaturated at all, with the The Notebook and all that, or do you think this movie is different enough? AS: I think the movie’s different enough. CT: I think ours is definitely different. I don’t think the market’s saturated at all, you know, because when The Notebook came out, people were running to see that movie because there was a lack of movies like that. AS: There’s a huge inspiration in that. It’s different. You know, like Avatar is a huge blockbuster, and everyone’s inspired by that, but that is unique. I think this is the type of movie that normally does and isn’t out enough.
Have you talked to Ryan Gosling or Rachel McAdams about after The Notebook came out to get an idea of what to expect? CT: I love Ryan as an actor, but … I don’t get out much…
What makes Dear John stand out among the genre of romantic war drama? CT: I hope that people don’t think that it’s about war. I really don’t want people thinking they have another depressing war movie on their hands. We tried to put as much of the military…. We didn’t want to see John with a weapon on all the time in it ….We really just wanted it to be two kids falling in love. AS: It’s a character study of the two of them and how they dealt with the fact that they’re in love and they couldn’t control their environment at all. CT: I think we could have taken John out of the military and made him anything else as long as distance and time was between them. Things come down the road that they don’t expect. I just don’t want people thinking this is some war drama; I don’t. This is a love story between two kids who met and fell in love for the first time and it’s that first love they can’t get right, it’s so hard to get that right. They’re just trying hard to figure out life.
Your characters get married so young in the movie. Do you think this will identify with college students? CT: Yeah, I think so. This is about that first love, and I hope people think of their first loves—and that you find someone you care about and hold on to them as hard as you can. I mean, we live in a society with over 50 percent divorce rate. It’s rare to find love and to make it work. AS: College-age kids are finding each other and it’s that challenge of realizing who is that person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. And in our story, they met that young, and it happens. That love can thrive—if you let it.
Have you ever received a “Dear John” letter or any sort of a love letter? AS: I got a love letter; it’s something I still keep really near and dear to me. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever written to me… I feel like a princess when I read it because someone went through all the effort to write it. CT: I’ve gotten love letters and stuff, but I don’t think I ever got a “Dear John” letter. I’ve been broken up with after I got off the bus stop at school. The girl stuck her head out the window and broke up with me [laughs], but I never got a letter.
Did you use that experience to help you with the film? AS: I would remember back to the times when I really felt loved and reflect that into the film. CT: Guys listen: if you haven’t written a love letter in a long time…Just write. Whoever your loved one is, write them something, and you’d be amazed at the reaction.
Have you ever been kissed out in the rain, like your characters? CT: I’m from Florida, so it rains pretty much all the time, so yeah, absolutely [laughs].
Without giving anything away, the book has been said to have a frustrating ending. What did you guys think of the ending? Were you satisfied? CT: I mean, yeah, I am very satisfied with the ending. We talked about it a lot and it’s really real, and so different than a lot of his other books. It really has a bite to it and it’s really relevant right now—without giving too much away—I think it should make people think, you know, about the people who enter their lives—and are they really telling them enough every day that they love ‘em? And we don’t change the book, but we give it a little more hope than the book might have had.
Would you keep the ending, or would you change it to make it happier? AS: I’d make it happier. I was so depressed after I saw the first cut of that film. CT: We had talked a lot about the end of the movie and how do it. The book is, it’s a little sad at the end, but they leave it open-ended. We just, I think, took it a little step farther and added a little more hope at the end. But I think if I was the director, that’s probably exactly what I would have done.
You guys are both playing pretty important roles that are representative of what many couples are going through. How have these roles impacted you? CT: It for sure had an impact on me. This is my third soldier role now. GI Joe was more of Star Wars. It was Star Wars and X Men. It really wasn’t a representation of a real soldier in real life, but Stop Loss was and I’ve gotten to know a lot of soldiers and some of them are my best friends now. It’s in no way, shape or form in my head that what I do makes me understand a soldier. AS: I really appreciate the sacrifices they are making and also leaving their loved ones as well. That’s a whole other story. Not only are you risking your life, but you’re risking what you have here in the States. I think it’s big of both of you for trying to make it work, no matter where he goes, you’re getting married, so it’s big commitment. I think it’s a beautiful thing because you know it’s real.
How was your chemistry on the set? Did you guys get along? AS: T he only problems were really just looking behind our backs, making sure that none of us were coming around to cause trouble. CT: I like to play some pranks on set to keep things interesting. But I think it was a real miracle that we actually got anything done.
Were both of you on board with the script as soon as you read it, or did it take come convincing? CT: I was actually on the movie before it had a script. So I read the book, so I knew exactly what happened when I saw The Notebook. My wife looked up at me and literally just, bawling her eyes out, and made me promise that we’re both going to die in bed together at the exact same time. So I knew what that did as a movie to go in—so I read it and it just seemed to have a little more grit to it than some of his other novels that have been turned into movies … I’ve been on it for a long time…three or four years or so. AS: It was already written when I—I had to audition a couple of times, but it was pretty clear to me it was what I wanted to do … It was little bit different. It was darker and I like the character a lot more than …I still hadn’t read the book. It was really well written.
How was preparing physically for this role different than other films in the past, like GI Joe and Step Up? CT: I think there’s a lot of emotion in the film. GI Joe, there’s not a lot of emotion. It’s a lot of explosions and stuff and it was a great change of pace to just to get to sit on a beach with somebody and actually look them in the eye and have a real conversation.
Any word on a GI Joe sequel? CT: Yes, they picked new writers, so the writers are starting to write. It’s the writers of Zombie Land, so we got some good writers this time. Last time we had to write the script, they wrote the script under a lot of pressure because there was the writers’ strike and the actors’ strike was coming up and it was really rushed. I hope that we can just take our time a little bit and get it right.
Obviously you’ve both had a lot diverse roles in your career. What kinds of goals do you set when you’re choosing a new project to work on? AS: It always has to be something different than the last one. CT: You try every time that you read a script, you want to push yourself. You want to stretch and do something different. It’s kind of hard because as soon as you do a movie, if someone did a dance movie, every single movie on the planet gets sent to you. You’re like, gosh, I can’t do dance movies the rest of my career. Or if you do an action movie, anything that says “and he jumps” or “he punches” or “he kicks,” that immediately comes your way. It’s a little disappointing because you want to be able to try different things and I’ve been really blessed in my career to have that opportunity.
Do you guys feel like there’s one specific ideal role that you’d really like to play? CT: I kind of want to play a villain. I haven’t played a villain yet and I want to go down that dark road and see what happens. AS: Somebody who is the antagonist role. You’ve got to really want the audience to hate you, and also, I…. like period movies. I would love to do something that’s set in a time that I just don’t understand. That would be really amazing.
Amanda, congratulations on Big Love’s Golden Globe nomination for best television drama. Rumor has it that you are not doing it anymore. What are the plans now? AS: I was working on [Big Love] for six years and I really wanted to move back to New York. We only shot for about five months and I was only working once or twice a week, so just the plan is to keep working on films for a while. I’m definitely planning on going back to Big Love next year, just not in every episode.
On the show you’re dating three different people, how do you feel about that? Would you be comfortable dating three different people in real life? AS: No. Yes, kind of, it would be fun. Here’s why. My boyfriend is always away and I get lonely. It would be nice to have someone fill in for him, but that’s really not natural. It is justified on the show, though, but I don’t think I could actually date three men at the same time. I think that would just be mean.
The phrase “Dear John” conjures images of war-worn heartbreak and heart-wrenching romantic drama. But as the stars of this month’s movie of the same name (based on the Nicholas Sparks novel), Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried argue that this isn’t a saccharine love story or a violent war drama, but rather a timely and gritty story that makes viewers think about what love can endure.
