#INTERVIEW: DREW RAY TANNER ON “BOOT CAMP”

By Mr. Will Wong

Vancouver’s DREW RAY TANNER is a major star on the rise. For one, he’s got two feature films out back-to-back in 2024 from Wattpad. Having established a large fan base thanks to his role as Fangs Fogarty on beloved series RIVERDALE, Tanner also starred alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Liza Koshy in Netflix‘s WORK IT – filmed in Toronto.

With deep roots in City, Tanner is no stranger here and was back in town to promote BOOT CAMP, based on Gina Musa‘s novel. Centering on the unathletic Whitney (Rachel Boudwin) who in an effort to improve herself, enrolls herself in a Boot Camp. The forbidden happens when she falls for her trainer (Tanner) and in her time at the camp, she finds her true self in the way least expected. It arrives August 27, 2024 in Canada on Apple TV, Prime Video and on-demand.

We had the pleasure of chatting with Tanner as he made a visit to Toronto to promote BOOT CAMP. We chat about his process getting cast alongside Boudwin, navigating the transition from supporting cast to leading man… or co-leading man as he puts it. He dishes on his favourite Toronto treat (hint: he couldn’t wait to head there after Press Day!) and tells us all about his amazing, supportive mother. And even tells us about the advice his famous roommate, it boy Charles Melton gave him.

We ask Tanner about the casting process for this Film – this being his first time starring in a leading role.

Tanner: I like to say ‘co-lead’ too because this is really Rachel’s movie. The Cast process was great. She played Whitney Carmichel. She was the first person to be cast and the whole movie sort of hinged on finding the right Whitney Carmichel. Once they found her, they started reading for Axels and and they asked me to read with her one hot summer’s day in my apartment when the AC wasn’t working. And I was like sweating and I was nervous, but I tried my best and luckily enough, they they liked me and it worked out.

We ask if his Riverdale character Fangs Fogarty informed his Boot Camp character Axel Chandler or not.

Tanner: You know Cole (Sprouse) and KJ (Apa), they were the leads of Riverdale and KJ in particular like always had his shirt off. I watched him go through that on Riverdale like having to uphold that sort of archetype of a character and so I knew that this type of movie was going to be something similar. So I took a lot from them. They offered great advice and really helped out.

Tanner tells us about his greatest challenge getting into this role – and it wasn’t the physical aspects of it.

Tanner: I think as a supporting character, when you’re the supporting character a majority of your career – which I always have been – you’re either comedic relief or you pop-in and you say something funny and it’s like wink and a smile and you run off. I had to channel-in something different which I had to be a lot more reserved. He’s a lot quieter -you know the term is like ‘dark and brooding’, but trying to do that without it being too much of a caricature as well. The hardest part for me I think, was trusting that process having the entire Script to sort of develop the character and have that room to breathe and to just sort of take those small moment. A less is more type of thing. I had to sort of turn off the the part of my brain that was like thinking I was only going to be in it for one scene, so I better make most out of it! Steal the scene! No, let’s actually try to let this story develop over the course of the Film.

We ask about building chemistry with his Co-Star Boudwin.

Tanner: She’s just a present actress, and incredibly talented. She’s just so with you in the scene and a lot of the stuff that you see on-screen is just little improv moments. You know I would throw something at her, she would throw it right back or you know, she was incredibly good at that. In real life too, she’s very witty, she’s very smart, she’s very funny. She was able to bring that into our little relationship and I think it really helped sort of propel them from friends to something more about it.

Tanner tells us about his deep Toronto roots, and also his favourite Toronto treat.

Tanner: I’ve got deep roots here. I have lots of family that live out here and came here every summer when I was a kid. So every time I come here, I’m always trying to get some good Jamaican food and patties. So I’m always on the hunt for that.

Last time I was here filming WORK IT – if you remember in that movie as well – Liza Koshy‘s character she sees I’m a mattress store salesman, and then all of a sudden my shirt’s off. I had to get in shape for that one too and when we wrapped I was like dying for something delicious and tasty. I went to this place called Eva’s Original Chimneys and I was obsessed with it. Mine had Nutella in it the cone – it was a life-changing experience! It makes it all worth it, I mean it’s all worth it. The whole time it’s like you’re working towards something.

The Actor gives his mother Amber credit for encouraging him to chase his dreams and did the job of both parents as a single mother.

Tanner: My mom you know, she was a she is a trailblazer, but back when she was going to University, you know she was very open and hip to the idea of having like biracial kids. Wanting to that was sort of the future that she wanted to see. You know, she did the job of both parents. She is a teacher, she’s retired now, but she was a teacher her whole life. But to me, she was always mom. You know she would try to like help me out with school work and I’d be like, ‘Don’t help me out with that! I don’t need a tutor!’.

On top of that, she came to every single football game. She was always on the sidelines cheering me on, she came to every single one of my plays. I was always in a play every single year. She came to every single one and when I told her that. You know, when I graduated high school and I said I want to be an Actor, I was really scared. I was nervous, like you know she’s a teacher. She’s very smart right and on my mom’s side of the family, there’s a lot of like highly-educated people. I was nervous to tell her that I want to pursue the Arts and she had no hesitation. She completely supported that decision and she’s always made me feel I can feel like I can do anything. I want to take this opportunity to sort of shout-out single parents out there that are raising kids on their own. If only they knew how much of an impact that they have. My mom had that impact on me. It was just incredible.

Tanner had the distinction of rooming with fellow Actor Charles Melton during the pandemic and he shares some wisdom his friend imparted upon him.

Tanner: Charles is a really interesting friend to me. I love him very much and he has given me some incredible advice throughout my friendship with him. Everything that he would tell me or whatever he was going through, or any questions I had, it was always sort of a year away. He would say to me, ‘Here’s what I want you to think about, here’s what I want you to like plan for, here’s what I want you to envision for yourself’. He’s been an incredible support system. He’s always a phone call away and he’s sort of been the blueprint for me in a lot of ways. If he’s seeing this, like dude, I hate to admit it, but I look up to you!

Watch the interview here:

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(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)