Talk about awkward first meetings. Most people worry about having food in their teeth or forgetting someone’s name when meeting a new co-star. Meanwhile, Channing Tatum had to worry about… well, everything being on full display.
Director Derek Cianfrance just spilled the tea about the most hilariously uncomfortable introduction in Hollywood history. While filming their upcoming crime comedy-drama Roofman, Peter Dinklage‘s first encounter with Channing Tatum wasn’t over coffee and donuts in a trailer. Instead, it was during a nude scene where Tatum was, as the director put it, going “full monty.”
“There’s this big scene in the movie where [Dinklage] catches Channing Tatum showering in the middle of the night,” Cianfrance told People at a special screening. “You can write that scene, but then you have to shoot it. And it’s… Channing had to show up.”
Now, before you start wondering if this was some kind of directorial power move, Cianfrance had his reasons. Apparently, he’s one of those directors who likes to keep his actors separated until the cameras roll. Think of it as method directing, if you will. “I tried to keep my actors apart because I wanted them to be surprised,” he explained. “So, Channing and Peter Dinklage never saw each other. The first time Peter ever saw Channing was full monty.”
The scene in question shows Tatum’s character, fugitive Jeffrey Manchester, getting caught mid-shower by Dinklage’s store manager character, Mitch. Because nothing says “hiding from the law” quite like a nice relaxing shower in the middle of a Toys”R”Us, apparently.
Speaking of which, Roofman tells the absolutely bonkers true story of Jeffrey Manchester, an ex-Army Reserve officer who robbed 45 McDonald’s restaurants (because why stop at just one?) and then decided the perfect hideout would be living in the walls of a toy store. Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up.
Tatum himself seemed to take the whole situation in stride, though he admitted it was pretty mortifying. “That was just a messy scene,” he said. “Literally, everything’s out there for the world. I mean, poor Peter Dinklage, he got the whole view. There’s no graceful way to jump up onto a bike rack when you know the camera is dead behind you.”
Cianfrance noted that Tatum was completely naked because, well, “there was nothing to hide behind.” The director seemed almost gleeful about the whole thing, adding, “It was pretty fun having Peter and Channing interact that way.”
Meanwhile, one can only imagine what was going through Dinklage’s mind during this particular introduction. Professional actor that he is, he probably just rolled with it – though we’d love to know his internal monologue during that moment.
The film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, hits theaters on October 10. Based on the buzz it’s generating, audiences might be in for quite the wild ride. Just don’t expect your typical meet-cute between co-stars.
