Channing Tatum - She's The Man Production Notes 2

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Having been involved in “She’s the Man” from the beginning, Amanda Bynes had seen elements of the story and characters evolve, but the basic concepts that drew her to the project remained unchanged.

“I loved the idea of doing a modern version of ‘Twelfth Night,’ and I especially loved having the chance to play two different characters, with one being a boy. It’s rare that you get to do something like that,” she remarks. “In fact, ‘Tootsie’ is one of my favorite movies—I even had a dog named after Tootsie—so to actually have an opportunity to play this kind of role was really exciting. It was very well written and I loved Andy Fickman. It all seemed too good to be true; I felt grateful to be a part of it.”

“Amanda is a great actress and an incredibly gifted comedienne,” Shuler Donner states. “You believe her—no matter what character she’s playing, she plays it with a wonderful finesse. She can be very physical and she has impeccable timing. She’s really quite amazing.”

With Bynes as Viola, the filmmakers brought together an ensemble cast of relative newcomers, together with several comedy veterans. They consider one of their greatest “finds” to be Channing Tatum, a young actor whose career is decidedly on the rise. Tatum was cast as the object of Viola’s affections, Duke Orsino.

“Yes, Channing—if only he were better looking or a nicer guy or a better athlete... I worry about his future,” Fickman jokes. “Seriously, he wowed everybody when he came in to read, and it was a joy working with him. At one point, we thought we might need a stunt double and a soccer double for the role of Duke, but Channing is a natural athlete. That’s him doing all his own stuff. He gave so much of himself every day. Really, there is something special about him.”

Tatum says that the athleticism of his role was among the film’s biggest draws for him. “I love physical roles because it allows you to bring something else to your character besides what’s written in your lines. It helps put you into character. Playing a jock, you get to be really physical, but playing Duke, I also got to be the exact opposite of a jock.”

Shuler Donner affirms, “There is something unexpectedly soulful about Channing, which was perfect for the part of Duke, because he’s got such a macho look but turns out to be quite sensitive.”

As a girl pretending to be a guy, Viola is put in a unique position to see the sensitive side of Duke when she—as a he—becomes Duke’s roommate at Illyria Prep. Thinking he is confiding in Sebastian, Duke reveals how inept he feels around girls, especially the beautiful Olivia. The problem is that the more Duke talks about Olivia, the more Viola finds herself falling for Duke.

Amanda Bynes admits that having to fall for Channing Tatum as Duke was hardly an acting challenge. “It was not a hard job to pretend I like Channing,” she smiles. “He is definitely easy on the ‘peepers,’ and he is also one of the sweetest guys I know. He was so much fun to work with and just to be around, so it was easy to pretend to have a crush on him. I felt such a bond with him and I know we’ll be friends for a long time.”

Tatum couldn’t agree more. “I love Amanda to death. She is just the most adorable thing you can imagine. It was so much fun being on the set with her; she was just hysterical—whether she was a girl or a guy.”

Duke asks Viola—that is to say Sebastian—to help him get a date with Olivia, which is the last thing Viola wants to do. She needn’t worry. The more Sebastian—that is to say Viola—talks to Olivia about Duke, the more Olivia finds herself falling for Sebastian, who she thinks is the first “guy” to whom she can truly relate. If she only knew…

Laura Ramsey, who stars as Olivia, attests, “Sebastian and Olivia have this connection, so Olivia is falling in love with Sebastian, but really it’s Viola disguised as her brother…and I have to say, Amanda was good looking as a guy. I could see how Olivia could be attracted to her, I mean him.”

Leslie notes, “The role of Olivia was another key part of the casting because she’s the other side of the romantic triangle. You have to believe that Duke would be obsessed with this girl, and that she could fall in love with Viola as a boy. Laura Ramsey was perfect because she is obviously beautiful and she and Amanda had real chemistry. We also wanted somebody petite next to Amanda, which helped Amanda play a boy so convincingly.”

The real Sebastian is played by James Kirk, who says his character and Viola have more in common than their birthday. “Viola and Sebastian are opposites in many ways, but they both share the same passion for the things they want. They are going to follow their dreams no matter what it takes. For Viola, it’s soccer. For Sebastian, it’s his music, so he is determined to go to London to fulfill his dreams.”

Viola is equally determined to play soccer, so when her own school, Cornwall High, cuts the girls’ soccer team and the guys’ soccer coach refuses to allow the girls to try out for his team, Viola hatches a plan to enroll in her brother’s place at Illyria Prep and win a place on their soccer team in time to help Illyria beat their arch rival: Cornwall. For Viola, it’s a matter of pride...and perhaps a little revenge against her now exboyfriend, Justin, who is Cornwall’s goalie.

Robert Hoffman, who plays the role of Justin, explains, “Justin told Viola that she was better than half the guys on his team, but when she tries to confront him about that in front of his teammates, Justin isn’t cool about that. He betrays her and denies ever having said it, which really upsets her. Justin says, ‘Girls can’t play against guys,’ but really he knows Viola is good, and he doesn’t want a girl showing him up.”

To transform herself into her twin, Viola seeks out the help of her best friend Paul, who happens to be a hair stylist at a high-end salon. “Paul is Viola’s go-to guy,” says Jonathan Sadowski, who plays Paul. “He’s the one she goes to for help and advice, but this is a first for them.”

Sadowski adds that the scenes in which Paul is trying out different looks to turn Viola into Sebastian were tremendous fun to shoot. “If you know Amanda, she’s such a girlie girl, so it was fun watching that transformation. It was just hysterical. I can’t say enough about what a good sport Amanda was, and working with Andy was great, too. He gave us a lot of liberty on the set, so you never knew what was going to happen next. I can’t wait to see the outtake reel.”

There is one major obstacle in Viola’s plan to take her brother’s place at Illyria, and her name is Monique. Monique is Sebastian’s girlfriend, who initially has no idea that Sebastian is in London with his band, let alone that his twin sister has borrowed his identity.

There is also no love lost between Viola and Monique, who is played by Alex Breckenridge. “Nobody really likes Monique,” Breckenridge comments. “She thinks the world revolves around her and everybody should kiss her feet, especially Sebastian. I think she just goes out with him because he’s cute and in a band…and she can boss him around. It was a fun character to play, because she is literally the complete polar opposite of who I am really.”

Rounding out the younger cast of “She’s the Man” are James Snyder as the scheming Malcolm, who also has eyes for Olivia; Amanda Crew and Jessica Lucas, who play Viola’s friends Kia and Yvonne; Clifton Murray and Brandon Jay McLaren, who appear as Duke’s teammates and friends Andrew and Toby; and Emily Perkins, who will be almost unrecognizable to fans of her “Ginger Snaps” movies in the role of the somewhat gawky Eunice, who becomes smitten with who she thinks is Sebastian.

The filmmakers also had fun casting the, relatively speaking, “older generation,” including comedy veterans Julie Hagerty as Viola and Sebastian’s mom, Daphne, whose dreams of her daughter as a debutante in pink satin ruffles have Viola seeing red; and David Cross as Illyria’s overly dedicated Principal Gold, who constantly makes the wrong assumptions about his newest student.

Leslie says, “We are all huge fans of ‘Arrested Development’ and ‘Mr Show,’ so we were thrilled that David wanted to play Principal Gold. Not only does he make what’s already on the page his own, but his riffs and ad-libs raised the character to a whole other level.”

Fickman adds, “David is completely respectful of the written word, so he would always do the first take as needed, and then he’d give me something a little different with each new take. I loved that. We were also great fans of Julie Hagerty. ‘Lost in America’ and ‘Airplane!’ are two of my all-time favorite comedies. To have her on the set elevated everyone’s game, and the kids adored working with both of them.”

Next Page: On the Rival Soccer Fields