Rachel McAdams Was Worried About Her Chemistry With Channing Tatum in ‘The Vow’
Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams were both experienced in doing romantic features. So when they came together for The Vow, on paper it would seem that they were more than a perfect fit. But after getting to know Tatum, McAdams was concerned she and the actor wouldn’t have the right chemistry for the film.
Rachel McAdams was concerned her chemistry with Channing Tatum wouldn’t be right for ‘The Vow’
Initially, McAdams and Tatum were both hired for the romance film The Vow because of their chemistry. The Vow was a 2012 feature directed by Michael Sucsy where McAdams played Paige, who experienced severe memory loss after a car accident. The character’s husband, Leo played by Tatum, would try to win back his partner’s affection even though she doesn’t remember who he is.
Sucsy believed one of the reasons the film worked was because of the energy Tatum and McAdams brought to the film.
“You can’t fake chemistry,” Sucsy once told Girl. “It’s there or it’s not. And the good thing is, Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum luckily had it. They really got along well. They light up the screen.”
Both McAdams and The Lost City of Z star gushed about working with each other on the film.
“Channing Tatum is the perfect guy for this role because he’s a real renaissance man; chivalrous and gentlemanly. He’s playing someone who would do anything to win back his wife’s heart and that’s very much, I think, who Channing Tatum is,” McAdams said about her co-star.
Likewise, Tatum thought McAdams was a “brilliant” actor and was essential for making the movie work. But their behind-the-scenes friendship became a point of concern for McAdams, who briefly worried it might get in the way of the movie.
“I was worried we might not, because we were more like brother and sister, like buds. Channing is very outgoing, very kind and a lot of fun to work with,” McAdams said in a resurfaced interview with Glamour.
Rachel McAdams convinced Channing Tatum to do ‘The Vow’
The Vow hinged a lot on the character of Paige, who Tatum felt could’ve come off as divisive to audiences. But McAdams’ casting was able to ease Tatum’s reservations about the movie.
“You have to essentially play two people,” Tatum once said according to SF Gate. “But the second one, I thought, would be very hard for an audience, if it wasn’t played correctly, to care about. She can be very unlikable. But then when Rachel came on, between her and Michael, I knew it was going to be done well.”
Before the 21 Jump Street actor was even in the role, however, he wasn’t seen as a good fit for The Vow. The director didn’t think the leading man had the right qualities.
“He’s an extremely attractive guy, but when his name came up for The Vow … I’d always seen him play these emotionally colder, sort of military parts,” Suscy said.
But Tatum proved Suscy wrong after the two met personally.
“‘He’s perfect for this. This guy’s got a bigger heart than his chest cavity.’ I sensed it in that meeting and can confirm it now: He is the white knight he plays in this movie,” the director remembered telling producers.
Channing Tatum pranked Rachel McAdams with fake manhood in ‘The Vow’
Tatum has been known for being a bit of a prankster while on film sets. So the actor didn’t miss the opportunity to pull a joke on the unsuspecting Mean Girls alum.
“As probably everyone knows, she’s a very very good good girl,” Tatum once said on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (via OK). “So I wasn’t sure if she’s ever seen a penis. And um, I wanted to make sure that she saw a good one for the first time.”
But Tatum reassured that it wasn’t his he was referring to.
“So I had the props make a very large prosthetic,” Tatum said. “There is this scene where I have to walk in naked and she got a good reaction. They actually used it in the movie.”
