Former model and dancer Channing Tatum talks about his lead role in 22 Jump Street
AFTER the critical success of 21 Jump Street, which took in over US$200 million (RM634 million) worldwide, it was no surprise that a sequel would be made.
Fans of the 2012 hit, based on the classic TV series of the same name from the 1980s, will have a blast with the promising sequel, 22 Jump Street.
This will see the two heroes, Morton Schmidt and Greg Jenko (played by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum respectively), back in rib-tickling action. The first saw them going undercover in a high school with their relationship taking centre stage. Now, in 22 Jump Street, the filmmakers take the relationship to the next level with a new setting at a local college.
If the first film was about forming a relationship, the new film is about what it takes to make a relationship last. Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, responsible for comedic hits like The Lego Movie and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, return to helm the sequel.
ODD COUPLE
Schmidt and Jenko are the odd couple. The two bring different things to the table.
“I’d never been in a comedy before,” says the 34-year-old Tatum, who also co-produced the film. “I learnt to trust the process — I mean, Hill is so good, he can throw out four or five different ways of saying a line, one right after another.
“I trust him, and Miller and Lord — I’m among friends. If they’re laughing, you know it’s funny,” he says.
As a result, Schmidt and Jenko became an unforgettable screen couple. The filmmakers have likened the two to Bogart and Bacall, a great yin-yang pair. “The first movie was so innately theirs, distinctively Miller and Lord,” says Tatum.
“The biggest thing for me was that the tone was different — it had a refreshing feel and a tone I’d never seen in a movie before.
“That’s why I was so happy that they wanted to come back and join us for the sequel — I knew they’d make the movie something special.”
Though the characters are fictitious, the heart of the relationship between Schmidt and Jenko is modelled after the two real-life relationships behind the cameras: The one between Lord and Miller, and the other between Hill and Tatum. The filmmakers said the biggest influence they brought to it was understanding what it was like to be in a long-term partnership where you didn’t sleep together.
Hill and Tatum became very close while filming the first film, forging a strong friendship. “When I watch films like 48 Hours or Bad Boys — I want to believe that those guys hang out after the movie, chilling at the bar,” says Tatum. “That’s how Hill and I are for the most part.”
The new movie is the second part of the relationship and follows the concept of the seven-year itch.
In the first film, they didn’t like each other but came to be great friends and partners. Now, their relationship has become complacent — like a marriage. And the college setting was perfect to set this process up.
“The world is opened up to them there, and they experience new things and start to wonder whether they’re with the right person or not,” says Tatum.
After all, college is about finding out who you are. Schmidt has really defined himself by this partnership with Jenko and he’s struggling to know who he is in college. Jenko, meanwhile, has found somebody with a few more of his shared interests.
When their investigation leads them to look into the football team, Jenko finds a kindred spirit in Zook, the team’s quarterback, played by Wyatt Russell. Before long, the bromance that seemed made in heaven is in trouble.
“Zook is kind of Jenko’s man-crush,” says Tatum. “There are jealousy issues immediately — and those issues get in the way of the case that Schmidt and Jenko are supposed to be working on. They end up investigating separately,” he says.
As it turns out, Tatum has a real history with the perennial sport in college: American football. Before he became an actor, Tatum had a brief college football career. “I had a really good school in the SEC (a collegiate athletic conference that participates in American football competitions) that was ready to give me a full ride — until they saw my transcripts. My coach came up to me and said, ‘They just don’t think you can do the work.’ I ended up going to a small school in West Virginia, played for a year and it wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I came home and wrapped it up,” he says.
COMEDY WITH ACTION
One of the hallmarks of 21 Jump Street was the action although it was all rooted in story, character and comedy. In planning the sequel, the filmmakers took the same approach, even as they upped the ante. Rather than being an action comedy, it’s been tauted as a comedy with action.
The movie opens with a chase scene with Schmidt and Jenko atop an 18-wheeler — a stunt that Hill and Tatum performed themselves. Tatum jumps onto the truck, managing to go after the bad guys, while Hill ends up stuck hanging upside down off the side.
Another chase scene is even more ridiculous: Tatum and Hill drive through campus in a football helmet car, chased at breakneck speed by the bad guys in a Hummer. “The helmet car is funny,” says Tatum. “But it’s really Hill’s expressions that make the scene.”
Tatum started as a model appearing in ad campaigns for the likes of Abercrombie & Fitch, Dolce & Gabbana and Emporio Armani. In 2000, he was cast as a dancer in Ricky Martin’s She Bangs music video. Tatum has since established himself as one of the most sought after leading men and producers. The busy actor will next star in Jupiter Ascending, written and directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski, as well as the Bennett Miller-directed Foxcatcher this year.
This year also sees Tatum beginning production on the sequel to Magic Mike and a film based on the life of Evel Knievel. He will also portray the role of Gambit in X-Men: Apocalypse, due for a 2016 release.
The Alabama-born actor grew up in Florida and currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Jenna Dewan, and their daughter.
TICKETS GIVEAWAY
We are giving away free passes to see 22 Jump Street at a special screening:
When: Wednesday (July 16), 8.45pm.
Where: TGV The Strand (Hall 3), Persiaran Mahogani, Kota Damansara
Cut out this page (originals only) and exchange it for two passes to watch the show (maximum two copies for four passes).
Redemption will be done TOMORROW at NST office, Balai Berita lobby from 11am to 4pm.
The tickets are valid for the movie title as stated above at the time specified only. Not exchangeable for cash.
The screening is made possible by Sony Pictures Releasing International (Malaysia).