Channing Tatum of "Step Up" (2006) and Amanda Seyfried of "Mamma Mia!" (2008) star in the newly released film "Dear John" as two people who fall in love amid the tension of the Iraq war. Based on the 2006 novel by Nicholas Sparks, "Dear John" follows Savannah (Seyfried), an idealistic college student, and John (Tatum), a rugged soldier, and their love as it is tested when John is deployed to Iraq.
Seyfried and Tatum caught up with the Daily and told us what it's like to be a part of the Nicholas Sparks phenomenon. They also dished on everything from their views on love to why their characters' love story is significant to so many couples in America.
Question: In the movie, you play a soldier in the Iraq war and the girlfriend who is waiting for his return. How did you prepare for such heavy roles?
Channing Tatum: I met with a lot of soldiers in the army who are in relationships, and some who are even married, and they have to go through this every time they get deployed. And I know it's a different life being a soldier's girlfriend or wife. You have to endure a lot.
Amanda Seyfried: I recently just met a bunch of women who are literally just hanging and waiting. I went to Fort Bragg, and there were these women who were telling me that their husbands have just been deployed. And I really can't just say, ‘Oh, I understand,' because I don't. I wouldn't be able to do that; I'm not that brave. But they trust that these are the people they are meant to be with, so they wait. And I think that is so beautiful and so brave.
Q: In the movie, your characters write a series of love letters to each other in order to stay close in a long-distance relationship. Do you feel that the type of love depicted in "Dear John" generally works out?
AS: I think it's harder to connect when you have that much time away from somebody. If it's meant to be, it will happen, and the love will come back to you. I definitely think there is that one person in the world for everybody, so it's completely possible to stay with a relationship like that.
CT: I agree. If you want to make it work, it will work. It gets painful, though. You start fighting over the little things, and it is really that you just miss the person so much. No matter what, you can't give up.
Q: The two of you are playing pretty important roles as a young couple amid the war in Iraq. How did you feel portraying that kind of couple?
CT: This role had a huge impact on me. This is my third soldier role, but my other roles weren't a representation of a modern soldier. However, it is in no way, shape or form in my head that what I do makes me understand what real soldiers go through.
AS: I have always had a huge appreciation for soldiers to begin with, and now I really understand that the biggest sacrifice is leaving your loved ones. Not only are you risking your life, but you are risking what you have at home.
CT: I had the chance to talk with a lot of soldiers, and they said that the knowledge that you will return is the thought you live by. And that getting anything in the mail makes you happy. I can't imagine being away from the person I love for that long. Two weeks is ridiculously long for me. I don't think I could do it. So I am constantly awed by people that do it.
Q: How do you think this movie relates to college students, given that there are so many young couples falling in love and getting married? Do you think this will be identifiable to people?
CT: Oh, I hope so. This film is about first loves, and I think that once you find someone that you care about, you should really hold on to them as much as you possibly can.
AS: I agree. There is always that challenge of determining whether this is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. And in our story, they did meet that young, and they fell in love. And that kind of love can thrive, if you let it.
Q: Veteran actor Richard Jenkins plays the role of John's father in the film. What in particular did you learn from him?
CT: He is such a giving actor. I do a scene with him in the hospital, and I think I owe that whole scene to him. I'm not really sure how to explain it; he was just there for me. As an actor, sometimes you don't know what you are doing, but then you look across the room, and there is someone in the scene with you who is just completely there for you.
Q: There are many other movies made about love and war. What makes "Dear John" stand out against the other films within this genre?
AS: It's really a character study of two people who fall in love and how they deal with events out of their control.
CT: This is not a story about war. This is a story about two people in love for the very first time. It is always that first love that is the one that is impossible to get right. Our characters are just trying to get it right.
