MOVIE NEWS – Working opposite a child actor with no prior experience clearly weighed on Channing Tatum more than expected. In the thriller drama Josephine, which premiered on January 23 at the Sundance Film Festival, the Roofman star plays Damien, the father of an eight-year-old girl who witnesses a brutal assault in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and gradually slips into paranoia. That emotional tension carried over to the set, where Tatum repeatedly felt the need to reassure his young scene partner, Mason Reeves, that everything was just part of the performance.
After the screening, director Beth de Araujo joined Tatum, Reeves, who portrays Josephine, and Gemma Chan, cast as the mother Claire, for a Q&A that touched on how the core cast managed to form such a strong bond. Referring to Reeves, whom Entertainment Weekly reports was discovered at a farmers’ market, Tatum spoke candidly on stage at Utah’s Eccles Theater.
“It actually made things easier because we could just play and have fun together. What worried me most was that she might think I was genuinely angry with her. I kept checking in, asking if she knew it was all just acting.”
Reeves jumped in with a laugh, saying, “He kept asking me, and I kept telling him I was totally fine.” Tatum then added, “I was the one who was terrified.”
Why Hayden Panettiere Says Young Actors Must Set Boundaries
The anecdote follows recent comments from former child star Hayden Panettiere, who spoke to MovieWeb about what she hopes young performers remember when entering the industry. By the age of nine, she had already appeared on Guiding Light, voiced a major character in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, and built momentum through roles on Malcolm in the Middle and Ally McBeal.
In 2006, Panettiere reached international fame as Claire Bennet on Heroes, but it was the musical drama Nashville that ultimately pushed her to step away for four years after the show ended. She later described that period as both exhausting and necessary.
“I never planned on taking time off, but the Nashville schedule was relentless – ten months a year with incredibly long days. By the end of each season, everyone was barely holding it together, and that break became vital for my mental health.
When you grow up as a child actor, you learn very quickly to say yes to everything. It’s easy to lose yourself in that noise, which is why young actors need to know when to say no.
Health matters, even if it often gets pushed aside, and it’s encouraging to see more people standing up for themselves.”
Source: MovieWeb
