The point, for Cianfrance, is that the characters at the heart of \u201cRoofman\u201d \u2014 good-hearted thief and unauthorized Toys “R” Us tenant Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum) and working mother Leigh (Kirsten Dunst<\/a>) \u2014 are his kind of people.<\/p>\n And \u201cRoofman,\u201d which in its themes of personal responsibility, community and acceptance holds much in common with the work of Frank Capra<\/a>, is his kind of film. The director behind the 1946 Christmas classic \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d loomed over Cianfrance\u2019s film from the start. \u201cAs we were selling this movie, trying to get it financed, I was pitching it to everyone as a Capra movie and what I kept hearing is, \u2018We don’t make those movies anymore.’\u201d<\/p>\n Cianfrance always knew he wanted \u201cRoofman\u201d to be a Christmas movie, which often features characters rediscovering themselves in a small town and magical happenings like, as he says, \u201ca fish shows up with wings.\u201d Or, in this case, that Manchester \u2014 on the lam after escaping prison \u2014 ends up falling in love with Leigh and being embraced by her family and community.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the populist filmmaker who’s making movies about regular people,\u201d says Cianfrance. \u201cYou never feel like Capra’s ever judging people, or being snobby about the people he’s making movies about. He’s making movies about the people who go to the movies.\u201d And while the film\u2019s true-life tale is certainly stranger than fiction, Cianfrance avoided turning \u201cRoofman\u201d into Hollywood escapism. Instead, he says, he wanted to illustrate his respect for working people\u2019s dreams and aspirations: \u201cThe thing that transformed it for me was when Leigh told me that Jeff was the greatest adventure of her life, and that she didn’t regret a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n With that in mind, he urged the cast to live their characters\u2019 suburban North Carolina lives. He encouraged actor Peter Dinklage, who plays the Toys “R” Us store manager, to actually manage the store. Dunst\u2019s Leigh, a new hire, was given an actual job interview by Dinklage himself. \u201cHe would not give me an inch in that interview,\u201d says Dunst. \u201cI respect him so much as an actor, I think I was also just intimidated by him as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Cianfrance calls the set \u201can aquarium for actors\u201d \u2014 a place where, to pull another Christmas reference he drops, everyone was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the island of misfit toys. Actors like Emory Cohen and Juno Temple expanded their characters beyond the page. Cohen, who plays bullied employee Otis, conjured up his character\u2019s love for peanut M&M’s, while Temple, who plays the girlfriend of one of Manchester\u2019s friends, saw her character as a hairdresser.<\/p>\n Even a scene where the Toys “R” Us is decorated for Thanksgiving gave Cianfrance and production designer Inbal Weinberg the opportunity to debate where to have Dunst place an inflatable turkey. \u201cI was like, we’re gonna let the actors decide. Kirsten came to set. She got the turkey. And she started to decide where it went, and she put it where my production designer wanted it,\u201d Cianfrance says. \u201cAnd Peter Dinklage came out and was like, \u2018No, the turkey goes here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n “As we were selling this movie, trying to get it financed, I was pitching it to everyone as a Capra movie and what I kept hearing is, ‘We don’t make those movies anymore,”’ says “Roofman” director Derek Cianfrance. (The Tyler Twins \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n Dunst had been wanting to work with the director since auditioning (unsuccessfully, the pair joke) for his 2016 feature \u201cThe Light Between Oceans.\u201d \u201cI would have done this movie without reading any script,\u201d she says. \u201cHow he makes a set \u2014 he wants to capture all the nuance and the things that make us humans interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n Tatum concurs. He knew immediately the role would challenge him as a performer. The actor had heard stories of how Cianfrance worked with performers to get authentic responses, like giving Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams \u2014 playing a married couple in 2010 drama \u201cBlue Valentine\u201d \u2014 contrasting information in scenes to heighten tension.<\/p>\n Dunst recalls a similar moment on \u201cRoofman,\u201d where Jeff scares Leigh by driving a car too fast with her and her daughters inside. \u201cDerek held my arms and he was like, \u2018Push against me as hard as you can,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI did that and he held tight and then we went into the scene immediately after. It brought up emotions of being trapped and a feeling like everything was out of your control \u2026 but that really helped me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI only told [Cianfrance] no one time,\u201d says Tatum, \u201cand that’s when he wanted me to sing.\u201d That might surprise viewers considering Tatum has an extended nude sequence where Jeff tries to escape from Dinklage\u2019s Mitch \u2014 the first time Dinklage and Tatum met, as it happens.<\/p>\n \u201c[Derek] always jokes, \u2018You read the script,\u2019\u201d says Tatum. \u201cI’m like, \u2018Yeah, I know I read the script. I just assumed you had a plan \u2026 a blocking plan.\u201d The scene itself, which involved Tatum running through the toy store and leaping onto a small roof, took 15 takes to accomplish over almost eight hours. Tatum, Dunst and Cianfrance laugh about how the director broached the subject of keeping Tatum\u2019s nudity tasteful. \u201cHe’s like, \u2018You want me to blur it?\u2019\u201d says Tatum. \u201cI’m like, \u2018Don’t blur it. That’s even weirder.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n As Dunst, Tatum and Cianfrance discuss the production, the conversation seems to be as much about the memories they made on set as the making of a film \u2014 which underscores Cianfrance\u2019s approach to directing.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve always tried to make sure [the actors] have environments \u2026 so that they can have these accidents and surprises. Moments can happen one time that you can’t replicate, and they become the moment that you watch forever. They become immortalized because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s enough to make Frank Capra smile.<\/p>\n A digital cover for The Envelope featuring Channing Tatum and Kristen Dunst of ‘Roofman’<\/p>\n![\""Roofman"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/240e28f4024f9a44a6b27424fb6ac6cd.jpeg\"\/)
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