'Boot Camp' movie: Wattpad story stars 'Riverdale' alum Drew Ray Tanner in forbidden camp romance
"It was a lot of years of me watching others be at the top of their game," Tanner said
Canadian actor Drew Ray Tanner was a favourite on the Netflix hit Riverdale. Now he's starring in the film Boot Camp (available on demand), based on Gina Musa's popular Wattpad webnovel, with more than 27 million reads.
Boot Camp, directed by Mackenzie Munro, is a coming-of-age story mixed with a forbidden romance. After Whitney Carmichael (Rachel Boudwin) has an embarrassing end to her prom night, she decides to sign up for a six-week boot camp over the summer, where each participant is paired up with a personal trainer.
While Whitney is initially at odds with her trainer Axel (Tanner), they start to open up to each other in a way they never have before.
"He needed to be this extremely fit, sort of like Adonis-type character, but to me it was just far more interesting to dig deeper into that and to kind of get past his physical appearance and see who he is as a person," Tanner told Yahoo Canada. "Underneath all of that he's this big nerd and I think I related to that quite a bit."
"He's built up this physical body around him to protect him from who he really is to others."
Watch Boot Camp on demand through platform like Apple TV. Purchase the movie for $14.99 or rent it for $6.99.
Much of Boot Camp is really evaluating body image issues, something that's relatable for a lot of people, and that relatability is what Tanner identified as something audiences can latch on to in this story.
"I think people just want to see people on screen that look like them, represent them," Tanner said.
"I remember when I started out I wanted to get braces or Invisalign or something, and my mom was like, 'No I like your crooked teeth Drew, they're nice. It gives you character.' And I remember at the time being like, 'You don't know what you're talking about mom, I've got to have perfect teeth.' But I really believe that what my mom was saying was true, and I think she represents a lot of people's opinions and feelings about people that you watch on TV or in movies. It's nice to see somebody that is not defined by what they look like and more so about their actions and who they are on the inside."
'It was a lot of years of me sort of watching others be at the top of their game'
After his experience on Riverdale, a show filmed in British Columbia that had extensive international success, Tanner was ready to take the lessons he learned on that set into a project like Boot Camp, where he has more of a leading role.
"When I was on Riverdale, ... I kind of came in, I had a couple lines in the beginning, and my character did grow, and it progressed from there," Tanner said. "But really, my main goal while filming that was to sort of be there as a support system to the other characters, ... supporting other people's arcs."
"As a supporting character your job is to just help the storyline, help the the main people's storylines. So it was a lot of years of me watching others be at the top of their game. I learned an incredible amount. So I knew that when it ended what I wanted to do was take those years, take that knowledge and take everything that they taught me on that set, and in that show, and try to use that in the next thing that I did. That's why Boot Camp was so important for me, because it was my first time being in a position like that, and sharing that leading role with Rachel and trying to use the things that I learned."
While fellow Riverdale star KJ Apa recently told Elite Daily that he would "100 per cent" play Archie again if the opportunity presented itself, Tanner feels similarly about any possible continuation of the Netflix show.
"I had a dream the other night [that] we had to be brought back for one more season or something like that," Tanner shared. "I would totally jump at it. I'd totally do it again."
"I really loved my time on that show and never took it for granted, and counted down the days that it was ending. And an opportunity to be in the same room with them again, ... it's an easy yes for me."
'I'd love to play a Canadian'
Filming both Riverdale and Boot Camp in Canada, Tanner, who's from Victoria, B.C., appreciates the projects he gets to work on at home.
"I'm very much defined and shaped by the country that I'm from and the town that I grew up in, and I feel that support and I really want to advocate for Canadian talent and for Canadian stories," Tanner said. "The crews that are out in Vancouver and in Toronto and all over the country, we have some of the best crews."
"The fun part of it is being able to, as everyone sort of climbs the ladder a bit, say, 'Yeah here we are.' This so much fun that we get to do this, but let's give ourselves a pat on the back, because I think Canada has just got a wonderful pool of talent. Anytime I get to film here I feel super grateful for that."
But while Tanner has had success in multiple Canadian-filmed projects that are set in the U.S., he's looking forward to working on something that's actually set in Canada in the future.
"What interests me more is telling Canadian stories. ... What kind of stories can we tell that take place in Canada," Tanner said. "When you get those opportunities, I think that's when you've got to capitalize and try to make the most of it there."
"I'd love to play a Canadian and in a Canadian story. I think that'd be a lot of fun."
