How Blink Twice brought Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz together

When Blink Twice went into production it was just a movie, but it soon became much more than that for director Zoë Kravitz and actor Channing Tatum.

The thriller is Kravitz's directorial debut, and it sees Tatum portray a tech billionaire who invites a young woman named Frida (Naomi Ackie) to his private island for a non-stop party that soon takes a dark turn. The role of Slater was one that Kravitz had Tatum in mind for, and the Magic Mike star took the part after a friend approached him saying Kravitz wanted to send him the script.

Read more: Zoë Kravitz Wants to Make More Movies With Channing Tatum: ‘Our Love Language’ (People, 3-min read)

It's a good thing he did join the project, because for Kravitz and Tatum the Blink Twice set went on to become the setting for their very own romance.

Kravitz told Yahoo Entertainment how she felt wanted to cast Tatum in her film because he "is such a wonderful actor" and she found it "so fun to see him do something that he’s never done before.” For Tatum taking on the role was about trying to "shake things up and scare [himself]."

While working on the film together led to sparks flying between them, the actors kept their romance under the radar. Romance rumours began circulating around them, but although they were often seen out and about and went to the Met Gala together in 2021 they didn't publicly acknowledge their relationship until a year later in an interview Kravitz did with GQ.

Speaking to the publication, Kravitz said of keeping their relationship out of the public eye: "You want to keep it sacred and private as long as you can. So that you don’t have to even think about what the world thinks about it."

The Batman star went on to say about Tatum: "He’s just a wonderful human. He makes me laugh and we both really love art and talking about art and the exploration of why we do what we do. We love to watch a film and break it down and talk about it and challenge each other."

"Whether it was making me tea or pouring me a drink or going to whip someone into shape or whatever— he really was my protector and it was really wonderful and sweet," she added. "I think if you can do something like that together, it’s a good test. And we came out even stronger."

Tatum has since also spoken openly about how their romance grew from strength to strength as a result of their working together, because it proved to be the ultimate test to their relationship.

Speaking to Extra, the actor said: "Working with your partner truly is—you know, I know a lot of people are afraid of it—it was the thing that cemented us in a way. We started, you know, kind of grew a little bit right before we started filming, and then it’s like, 'Okay, we’re gonna go do this.'"

Tatum explained that working together on the film "brought [them] together", and he added that any budding couple should do a project together to see if it makes them stronger or not because if it "brings you together and not apart, that’s the way."

The pair's engagement was confirmed in October 2023, with the couple and Kravitz's father Lenny going on to share their thoughts on the forthcoming marriage.

Lenny Kravitz described the couple as having "something that's naturally special" in a conversation with People, saying that "they also do the work. They are dedicated. That's what it's all about" and adding that "it's beautiful to watch".

The couple clearly have a lot of shared admiration for each other as they have both spoken fondly about the others work ethic in the lead up to Blink Twice's release. Tatum told The Hollywood Reporter: “She’s just an obsessive person, in the best possible way… That I think I was more in awe of than anything."

While during Kravitz’s speech at a screening of the film Kravitz took a moment to thank Tatum for his support during the filmmaking process, saying: “It’s really very cool to get to make a movie, but when you get to do it with the love of your life, it’s even cooler."

Blink Twice premieres in cinemas on Friday, 23 August.