channing tatum - the son of no one production notes
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  Chapters Cast Infos Other MoviesThe Vow 2012
21 Jump Street 2012
Haywire 2012
Dear John 2010
Fighting 2009
Stop-Loss 2008
Step Up 2: Streets 2008
Step Up 2006
She's the Man 2006
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 The most difficult casting for Montiel was the roles of Jonathan and Lenny as children in the 1986 part of the film. But he was fortunate to find two very talented boys who could pull off such difficult roles. “Jake Cherry plays ‘Milk,’ Jonathan’s name as a boy, and there’s probably, no scarier role that I’ve ever had to cast,” admits Montiel. “I can only think of one that came close — Shia LaBoeuf in my first movie. It’s an unsettling role, because here is this young boy who is doing some very adult things — not like he’s in ‘The Little Rascals.’ I was looking for a kid who wasn’t just a good actor, but who would make me believe that he lived in the projects and really did these things. At first I wasn’t sure, because Jake’s a good-looking kid, and sweet, but then during his audition he screamed — and I’m a big fan of screaming. When he screamed, he had the real scream. I felt it. I knew I had the right boy for ‘Milk.’
“The other kid’s role, ‘Young Vinny,’ is possibly even a more difficult role. During our casting search, a teacher up in Harlem who has a special class for really great kids told me I should come down and see them. So I showed up there and they wouldn’t let me bring any cameras. He had 12 of the best young actors I ever saw in my life. Brian Gilbert, who we chose to play this role, was one of them. I apologized that I didn’t have any scenes for them to read and the teacher said it was okay because they all had monologues prepared. I couldn’t believe it. When I was 11 years old I was bouncing off a wall. Brian’s monologue – I think it was Shakespeare – blew my mind. I couldn’t believe he had the guts to do it in front of me. He’s a very special kid and incredible in the role.”
It’s a testament to Montiel’s talent that every member of the stellar cast chose to do the film because of the script and the opportunity to work with him.
Channing Tatum had already made two films with Montiel and thinks the world of him as a person and a filmmaker. So it’s no surprise that he jumped at the opportunity to work on a third one together. “I think Dito had been writing this script for a long time,” he recalls, “but he initially told me about it one day while we were working on Fighting. He’s been a great mentor to me. He doesn’t pretend to know everything; he writes his scripts like a beautiful piece of jazz, and then when you get to the set you never know what’s going to happen. He says he doesn’t really know what the scene is until we get to the set and start to do it. Arriving on the set, he’ll say, ‘Oh, there’s a door there; there’s a kitchen there…’ and then figure out how he wants to shoot it, often changing the script. Because he’s written it, it’s not just improv. And now that we’ve done our third movie together we don’t even have to speak full sentences. We know each other so well, we just sort of grunt words at each other.
“I think he gets better and better as a storyteller and always knows exactly what he wants in every scene. He’s a kid from the streets, and he knows New York. He knows what a real scream sounds like; it’s not this actory thing, and he won’t let you cop out and do actory things. Sometimes when I don’t know how to play a scene, I’ll touch my face and Dito would say, ‘Stop touching your face, that’s a cop out.’
“This time around, I saw more than ever that Dito really knows how to construct a story. He’s connecting the dots a lot better than most of the directors I’ve worked with. Jonathan White is one of the very few Caucasian kids who grew up in the Queensbridge Projects, so his friends named him ‘Milk.’ He and two of his best friends are involved in killing this crackhead, and they pretty much get away with it. Then he kills another guy they know. But they get away with that, too. And now, it’s about 17 years later. The kids who committed these murders with him didn’t really make it out of the projects, as my character did. I enter the film as the adult ‘Milk,’ who’s tired of working in 7- 11s and record shops. At age 30, he’s become a cop, which he never really wanted to do because his father was one. But he needs to get medical insurance for his little girl who has epilepsy.
“After about two months in the job, Jonathan is transferred to his old neighborhood, and soon all the reports about the killings in his childhood start coming out. At first he’s not even sure they are his murders. But it slowly gets worse and worse, and he starts to go a little crazy.”
As for Jonathan’s relationship with his wife, Kerry, played by Katie Holmes, Tatum says, “I think their relationship is not this picture perfect thing and I don’t think they believe that anything is picture perfect – in life, not just at home. For me, the backstory is they were in love, and she got pregnant, probably before they got married. Now they have this beautiful little girl they both love. But it’s hard because she is epileptic. I don’t know if their house is ever really happy. And now that Jonathan has to commute from Staten Island to Queens, it gives Kerry another thing she can be unhappy about. Then, when the reports about the murders begin, its effect on Jonathan makes things between them worse.
“This character’s journey is not really very far,” says Tatum. “Dito said to me, ‘Look, people don’t change that much in life.’ His character is pretty much in denial that everything in his life is lies. And then at the end of the movie, he maybe takes one little baby step — and that’s really it. He doesn’t even save the day or anything, just as in real life. He’s still trying to figure it out.
“The Son of No One walks the line of shades of gray, and right versus wrong. There aren’t big, epiphany moments... No one’s a good guy; no one’s a bad guy. People make decisions because they have to — sometimes they make good ones; sometimes they make bad ones. Sometimes they’re aware of that; sometimes they’re not.”
As for working with the other actors in the film, Tatum still can’t believe he was so fortunate. “Sometimes I think it’s insane for me to even be acting, much less be acting with these people. You watch movies your entire life and you see people you loved on screen — Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Juliette Binoche, and Katie Holmes. I watched all these people, including P.J. Ransone and, of course, Tracy Morgan. To have Al Pacino give me a hug and say ‘you did some good acting today.’ It’s like check the box, I’m done. I’m good. I don’t need any more in life.”
“One great thing about Al Pacino is that he’s not set in his ways. He doesn’t come to the set with the attitude, ‘Okay, this is how I’m doing it, so you guys can figure it out.’ When he comes onto the set he really wants to play; he really wants to do things differently. He’ll do as many things as you’ll let him do. And that’s because he always wants it to be better. Because it’s true that once a movie’s over and they yell wrap, that’s it. Then the director and editor go into the editing room and you’d better hope you gave them all the colors you came with. Because if not, when you see the film, you’re going to groan and say, ‘I should have done one more take; I wish I would have thought of that one thing.’
“Tracy Morgan and I did a scene one night that was supposed to be really intense. Then it turned out to be this sweet, sweet scene between two best friends, with nothing but love for one another. Whereas that whole scene could have gone in the opposite direction. As it was written, I was supposed to grab him, threaten him and hold a gun to his head. After several takes and trying different things, we figured out that it’s really about two old friends. That’s the lesson I learned from Al. Don’t stop until the director has it every way.”
As for Tatum’s work with Katie Holmes, he really enjoyed their scenes together and has the greatest respect and admiration for her acting. He comments, “Tom Cruise is maybe the biggest movie star on the planet, not to mention one of the finest actors, so people can forget how unbelievably good an actress Katie Holmes can be. I’m glad that she wanted to do this film; she’s great in the role. She really takes her acting seriously. There’s none of this, ‘I’m Katie Holmes’ stuff. She’s just a normal girl from Middle America who loves what she does and is one of the best people I ever met in my life.”
Tatum was also impressed by Tracy Morgan, who plays the adult Lenny, Jonathan’s best friend from childhood. “Tracy Morgan is also going to shock the world,” says Tatum. “No one’s seen him do dramatic stuff before, but the guy’s a pro. I don’t think it’s a big secret that many comedians can be tortured people. I don’t know if he’s been tortured so much, but Tracy has certainly experienced a lot in his life. That’s what a great dramatic actor really is — somebody who’s able to harness those feelings you have inside and interpret them.
“What’s interesting about Tracy’s work in this film is that during his career he’s been groomed and conditioned to be so big and so outgoing, and when you take that away from him, it’s unbelievably intriguing to watch his quietness, because he’s got so much going on inside — it’s beautiful to watch.”
As for Ransone, who plays Jonathan’s partner, Prudenti, Tatum was really impressed by his talent. “I’d never met the guy before, and he comes in one day and we do a scene together. I had no idea how good he’d be in the role. I’d seen a couple of things he was in, but not the Larry Clark movie, and P.J. turned out to be one of the finer young actors I’ve ever worked with. He’s smart and doesn’t make normal acting choices. I admire that.”
In the few days Juliette Binoche worked on the film, her scenes are all with Tatum, with one also including Ransone. “Juliette Binoche is a strong, strong force,” says Tatum. “She definitely has masculine energy if she wants it, which she needed for the role of ‘Bridges.’ But she can also turn on the beautiful, female sort of energy when she wants to — like when she laughs or lets that character down for a second, and then you get to see her.”
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