Hilltop Views Entertainment co-editors, Holly Aker and Caroline Wallace, participated in a round-table phone interview with "Dear John" stars, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Read what they have to say about young love, the filming process and kissing in the rain.
Reporter: I know this movie is about young love; how do you think this movie relates to college students? I know there’s a growing popularity of couples getting married earlier. Do you think this will identify with people?
Channing Tatum: I mean, I hope so. I really, I think that this is about that first you love had. I hope people think of their first loves. It’s really important once you find someone you care about to really take care of them and hold onto them as much and as hard as you possibly can. I think in a society today with over 50 percent divorce rate, it’s rare to find love and to make it work.
Amanda Seyfried: Yeah, especially right now. College-aged kids are finding each other, and it’s that whole challenge of realizing if this is the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with. In our story, they met that young, and it happens, and it’s realistic. That love can thrive if you let it.
Reporter: Now obviously this is a love story, and obviously the chemistry is going to be phenomenal between you two to make viewers believe that you two are in love. How was your chemistry on the set? Did you guys get along? Did you have any problems?
AS: The only problems were behind our back, making sure that none of us were coming around to cause trouble.
CT: I like to play some pranks off set. I think it was a real miracle that we actually got anything done. We directed a lot at the director, and he loves to just play around. I really don’t know how we got anything done because he’s crazy, and if you let us we’ll just play all day.
Reporter: What kind of actual jokes did you play?
CT: None, probably, that I can say on the air. They were harmless; they were nothing too bad, but I don’t think I can say very many of them on the air.
AS: Yeah, he would get in trouble.
CT: Yeah, I’d get in trouble.
Reporter: You guys are both playing pretty important roles that you’re representative of what many couples are going through with the war in Iraq. How do you feel about playing these roles and did these roles have an impact on you?
CT: It for sure had an impact on me. This is my third soldier role now, and “G.I Joe” was more like “Star Wars” and “X-Men.” It really wasn’t a representation of a real soldier, but “Stop-Loss” was. I’ve gotten to know a lot of soldiers, and some of them are my best friends now. It’s in no way, shape or form in my head that what I do makes me understand a soldier because I, me or anybody else that is not in the armed forces, will ever know what it’s like to be a soldier.
AS: Now, I really appreciate the sacrifices they’re making, and also leaving their loved-ones as well. That’s a whole other story. Not only are you risking your life, but you’re risking what you have here in the states.
CT: Talking to those soldiers, it was one of the things they said. The patience and the knowing that you’re going to go back, and you’re surrounded by danger but you try not to think about that. You just keep thinking, “I get to go back in two months, three months, four months, or however long it is. Getting anything in the mail makes your day. I can’t imagine being away from the person I love for that long. Two weeks is ridiculously long and painful. I am seriously awed by people who do it, especially yourself. I love what soldiers do. I obviously didn’t go into the military, so I don’t think I could do it.
Reporter: Have you ever received a Dear John letter of any sort or a love letter in general?
AS: A love letter not a Dear John. I got a love letter, and it’s something I keep through the years. It was the most romantic thing anyone’s done for me. It’s from an old boyfriend, and I still read it and I feel like a princess when I read it, because someone went through all the effort to write it.
CT: I think I’ve gotten love letters and stuff, but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a Dear John letter. I’ve been broken up with after I got off the bus stop at school. A girl stuck her head out the window and broke up with me [laughs]. I never got a letter though.
Reporter: Amanda, did that type of love letter inspire you in the film to feel that sort of passion for a person today?
AS: Yeah, I’ve had such good experiences in my life with my partners that I can remember to each and every one. I can remember back to the times when I really felt loved and reflect onto the film. It’s pretty amazing. Everything’s inspired me and influenced me in my life. I’ve just been really lucky.
CT: Guys listen. If you haven’t written a love letter in a long time, you don’t have to sit and mail it, you don’t have to do anything, just write her something. You’ll be amazed at the reaction.
Reporter: In the real world, do you feel that this type of romance and this type of love can really work out—the way the film has portrayed it—especially over a long period of time?
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