Street: Dear John letters must be extremely painful to receive. Did you speak with any soldiers who received them while overseas Channing Tatum: I never actually ran into one that got an actual “Dear John” letter, but my whole unit, except for maybe four actors, were actual special forces, and I did get to talk to them about what it is to be away from somebody for that long, and how they communicate. You do it every way you possibly can — through mail, through e-mails, through phone calls. They said that getting an actual letter is like Christmas — it’s a little bit of home that actually made it to you.
Street: You’ve played a soldier before. What draws you to these characters? CT: I kind of joke that I just had a shaved head and a thick neck from playing football. But I’d like to think that I respect what they do so much, that I hope directors see how much I value what they do.
Street: What do you hope audiences take away from this movie? CT: I hope they think about their first love, or if they are about to engage in their first love, take the note that if you find someone you care about, don’t let them go. Do everything you can to hold onto them, and if you’re having an issue, it’s probably you, not them.
Street: Did your wife have any sway in your decision to be in the movie? CT: I don’t know if “sway” is right, but my life has been very, very rich since I met her, and I’ve been introduced to a new kind of love. I hope other people can have different incantations of love every time they go through it. I don’t think I could have appreciated Jenna as much as I do if I hadn’t had other relationships that have taught me about myself, about other people and about relationships. But Baby if you’re listening: definitely. You had a hand in it, and you’re the whole reason.
Street: You’d never surfed before this film. Can you talk about the Zen of it? CT: In the beginning, you have glimpses of it, because it’s very frustrating. There’s something really beautiful about it because you wake up at four in the morning, and you drive to the beach, and you paddle out when it’s dark, and you’re essentially paddling out at night. If you get frustrated, and you start to get mad, Mother Nature knows. She knows if you’re in a good place or a bad place. I remember getting so frustrated that I wasn’t getting it at first, and [my coach] was like, “Look man, just let go. If you’re going to be frustrated, just know we’re going to have a long day. If you can laugh at just learning you’re going to have a great time and I guarantee it’s going to work better.” And I just started laughing every time I would fall in.
Street: Were you surprised by how much focus Details magazine placed on your [penis] accident? CT: Yeah, [the writer] made a little bit of a meal out of it, I think. Whatever, it’s hilarious to me. I wouldn’t have shown him the picture if I didn’t think it was just utterly … it was one of the most real moments of my life. It was real fear, and real pain. It was just insane. But, I made it through! We’re good!
