Although this article is from last year, I still found it interesting to learn how Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan reacted to all of the fan attention they started getting after Step Up released last August. The director of the movie, Anne Fletcher gives us the low down on how the stars of the film reacted to their growing popularity.
Here is the article:
CELEB INSIDER: A New Life for Channing Tatum
"He's stunned. It's only been a week, and life has changed so fast, so drastically," observes Anne Fletcher, the director of Disney's dance flick, "Step Up."
She's talking, of course, about the movie's brightest new star, Channing Tatum, who plays the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who falls for a wealthy performing arts high school dancer (Jenna Dewan). If you happened to be around for Patrick Swayze-mania back when "Dirty Dancing" became a hit in 1987, well, time will soon tell whether we have a parallel in the making here.
"I told him, 'Your life, as you've known it, is over.' Jenna feels stunned, too," adds Fletcher, one of the hottest choreographers in the business, whose credits range from "The MTV Movie Awards" to John Travolta's upcoming big-screen "Hairspray." "She's like: 'What happened?' I say, 'Just enjoy it.'"
Adds the lively, energetic Fletcher, "I do know that Channing will be incredibly generous with his fans and grateful for them. The kids know him already," she points out, since the actor has already amassed a list of credits including the lead opposite Amanda Bynes in "She's the Man," plus turns in "Coach Carter," "War of the Worlds" and Robert Downey, Jr.'s September release drama, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints."
"He truly knows the fans are the ones putting him on top. I remember being on the red carpet for the premiere, and they had to come pull him away from a group of people to go inside the theater. I know his face better than anyone at this point, and I saw his little face, so disappointed and pained that he couldn't have time with each of the people out there who wanted to talk to him."
But, will success turn his head?
"No," answers Fletcher emphatically. "We've actually had this conversation. I told him, 'Hollywood is very small, and if I hear on the grapevine that you have an ego situation and you're being disrespectful to people, I will find you and beat you.'"
Fletcher says there may be foreign openings ahead for "Step Up," although Tatum is busy in Austin, Texas, making Paramount's yet-untitled feature about a soldier, back in Texas after a tour in Iraq, who refuses to return to battle. Kimberly Peirce directs and Ryan Philippe also stars. "I haven't experienced the aftermath of 'Step Up' yet," adds Fletcher. "I truly would love to be with him when that happens," she says.
In our own unscientific sampling, three teenagers, two girls and a guy, who we took to see the flick were asked, "Channing Tatum, breakthrough star -- yes or no?" They all said "Yes," and one added that the 26-year-old actor/hoofer/former model "is a real honey!" She's got plenty of peers in agreement out there.
Source: Netscape.com
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