Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie are unnerved by the power stardom and fame provides, themes that define their film, Blink Twice, directed by Zoë Kravitz.
Ackie and Tatum talked with Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum about how power is dissected in the film, with Tatum saying that all of the characters in the film are on Tatum’s character’s billionaire island to try to get their own bit of stardom.
“Everybody’s on that island for a reason,” he said. “They get way more than what they’re expecting and what they’re asking for, but…they’re not ever doing anything from that place of not wanting something. And then I think Naomi was talking about that– what you are willing to not pay attention to or endure to try to still chase that thing and get closer to that thing that you want> But ultimately…absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Ackie also talked about the strangeness of power, describing how she feels as an actor still getting used to her fame.
“As an actor…when I go home, I’m home. I live in London where I don’t feel very…shiny, right? And then you do things like this [press] and you feel shiny and suddenly there’s a camera and you can say things and people listen,” she said. “And recently, you know, as my career has grown, I can really see, especially very recently, like how what I say really matters and that it’s going to impact people. And like, that brings up questions about how– how I want to move through the world, what I want to say and how I want to bring people together. That’s an interesting thing of whether you decide to bring that on or you ignore it and how you use that power to move through the world. I’m still like, ‘This is weird.’”
Tatum agreed, saying “none of it really makes any sense” when it comes to star power.
“You know, one day you don’t have anything. And then, I remember I did a commercial, and I went and picked up my cousin in this small town in Alabama one week, and then I was in a movie with Amanda Bynes, a massive star for kids at that time. Then I went to go pick up my cousin from school the next time, and that movie had come out, and I walked through the school [and] nobody paid attention to me. No one cared. And just because I was on screen, all of a sudden you’re given this currency that you don’t know why or how it showed up or what to do with it. But it’s a fascinating thing, power in general. Everybody’s just fighting for a piece of the pie.”
Blink Twice stars Tatum as a bad boy billionaire who takes Frida, a waitress, to his island for a holiday. But Frida begins to feel something is totally off about what was supposed to be a fun getaway. According to the official synopsis:
When tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.
Watch the full interview with Kravitz, Ackie and Tatum above.. Blink Twice is in theaters this weekend.
