Zoë Kravitz knew that she wanted her now-boyfriend Channing Tatum to star as the mysterious dark character Slater King in her directorial debut, Pussy Island, even though she had never met him.
“I felt, even from afar, before I knew him, that he was a feminist and that he wasn’t afraid of exploring that darkness, because he knows he’s not that,” Kravitz told WSJ Magazine. “That’s why I was drawn to him and why I wanted to meet with him.”
Kravitz found it exciting to cast somebody who usually plays the nice guy in the villain role. “I wanted to find somebody who hadn’t played a dark character before, because I think it’s exciting to watch someone who’s mostly played boy next door, good guy, love interest, all of that,” she said.
Tatum, whose company Free Association is co-producing the project, appreciated that Kravitz cast against type and went for him. “I didn’t know Zoë before I met her for the film,” he said. “It’s always really intriguing to have someone bring you something that literally no one else has ever thought of you for.”
The pair developed a working relationship because of the film, but they just so happened to develop a romantic one, as well.
“When you make things with people it’s a very sacred space, and when you’re compatible with somebody creatively it often opens up other channels, because you’re kind of sharing all of yourself,” Kravitz said. “I’m really grateful that this movie brought him into my life that way.”
Pussy Island is expected to release in 2023.
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