Pop-Culturalist.com

Charlie Rowe has quickly emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men. He’s best known for the dynamic characters he’s brought to life in projects like Red Band Society, Vanity Fair, and Angelyne.

This August, he can be seen as the titular character in Gigi & Nate. The family drama tells the story of Nate Gibson (Rowe) whose life is turned upside down after he suffers a near-fatal illness and is left a quadriplegic. Moving forward seems impossible until he meets his unlikely service animal, Gigi – a curious and intelligent capuchin monkey – who helps Nate find what he needs most: hope.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Charlie about Gigi & Nate, how he prepared for this role, and the importance of service animals.

PC: This is such a physically and mentally demanding role. You handled that with so much nuance. What was your preparation like as you stepped into Nate’s shoes?
Charlie: Thank you, by the way. I was quite intimidated by the transformation at first. It was about learning more about the injury itself first and learning the details of how it affects the body and then trying to expand on that physically. What parts of the body can I move and when? Because in the script, there is rehabilitation and progression, so at what points in the script can he move this arm?

I was working with this physical therapist named Nancy Lehrer, who works down in Atlanta with people who suffer from spinal cord injuries. She was unbelievably helpful, and we worked together every day for three months. The physical transformation was a lot, but that’s why I was so excited to work on that because this role came to me mid-pandemic. I didn’t have much going on and suddenly I had the opportunity to work incredibly hard, and that was extraordinarily exciting.

PC: This film also creates visibility for a community that’s often neglected on screen. Did that bring an added sense of pressure or responsibility to this role?
Charlie: Absolutely. You don’t see quadriplegics on camera a lot. I wanted to do that community justice. I spent a lot of time with this guy named Craig Cook and this guy named Ned Rogers. The movie is loosely based on Ned’s story and his monkey, Casey. I spent time with them just chatting it up and talking about their lives, their injuries, how they’re doing, and their relationship with their monkeys. I was really trying to immerse myself in it so I could begin to understand what they’re going through.

The funny thing is these two guys are so funny and relaxed. This is something that they have, and that’s all it is. It’s not a big deal, and everyone treats it like a big deal. They’re still themselves. It was a big moment for me in my research. I got to laugh with these guys and realized that this movie was going to be a lot of fun for me. They took the pressure off slowly. But I hope we got everything in terms of what we wanted to show.

PC: During the rehearsal process, you got to experience what the disabled community encounters on a daily basis. Can you talk a bit about that experience and the impact it had on the way that you approached this character?
Charlie: Apart from my conversations with Craig and Ned, I was given my character’s chair two weeks before shooting. I had two weeks of being in the chair constantly and I would go to all the rehearsals and my meetings with the monkey in the chair.

One thing that was really interesting was I had some errands to run at Target. I went to Target in the chair. You start to notice how people behave in public with you. I noticed there were two different responses. One was a lot of people were overly courteous and incredibly wide-eyed. They were like, “Hi, how are you?” It felt a little bit patronizing.

There was also one moment when I was going to 7-Eleven. I was twenty-five yards away from the 7-Eleven and a guy was holding the door open for me already. I was like, “Man, you’re going to be standing there for a couple of minutes. It’s going to take me a while to get over there.” But it’s fascinating to see people’s responses and that’s when I felt like, “Oh, I’m truly getting into the mind of the character here because I’m feeling patronized, or I’m feeling ignored.” It was really helpful.

PC: In a lot of ways your relationship with Allie (the monkey) mirrored Nate and Gigi’s relationship and journey in the film. Did you feel that bond strengthen as the filming process went on?
Charlie: It was a huge surprise to me. I was very tentative at first because you’re working with an animal. I’m not particularly familiar with monkeys. I was nervous. There was a strict set of protocols that I had to follow at the beginning of the process. I worked with her every day for three months. At the end, there was a big day for me about four weeks in where the monkey wranglers would bring her over and put her down on me and tell her to stay. That morning, she just hopped on over to me. She jumped up onto me in the chair and just sat there. I was like, “Oh, wow! She knows where she needs to be and there’s a relationship building.”

Then one day, she started grooming my hair. It wasn’t needed for that scene; she was just doing it. It was happening in between takes. I was like, Oh, wow. I think she likes me.” The hair and makeup artists would come by and would be like, “She’s touching his hair! You shouldn’t be doing that.” But she would protect me. We really did have a relationship by the end. It’s the same with any actor. When there’s a relationship between the actors and when there’s chemistry, it makes the scene come alive.

PC: Working with an animal is really unpredictable, which feels very similar to what it’s like to perform on a live stage. Did you find that your experience in theater allowed you to adapt to working with Allie, and also Nick Hamm, who’s really big on improvisation?
Charlie: That’s really funny—I hadn’t made that connection with theater, but I mean I suppose for me what my experience in theater has helped me with is the acceptance that whatever is happening is happening. When the monkey would do strange things that sometimes hurt or were not what the scene called for, I was ready to go with that. That’s what Nick wanted. Nick wanted these little accidents. Maybe it was my theater training, but I was more than happy to roll with the punches and roll with whatever Allie gave me.

PC: Actors often say that they take a bit of each of the characters that they play with them to future projects. What has playing Nate taught you about your craft?
Charlie: When we meet Nate, he’s a risk taker. He’s this ball of energy. You could say that his risk backfired because of the circumstances that he finds himself in, but for me, he continues to take risks throughout the film. That’s just who he is. That risk-taking is something that I found very moving about him as a character. It’s something that I’ve tried to adopt in my life and carry with me. I found myself taking more risks during the film because of Nate. Having said that, I don’t think I’ll be jumping off any 50-foot cliffs like him.

PC: There are so many timely and relevant themes within this film. Was there one in particular that hit home for you? What do you hope audiences take away after they see it?
Charlie: I mean the importance of service animals to disabled people is one. The other is the strength of family and if they are there, how much they can provide. I just hope audiences are as moved as I was when I read the script.

To keep up with Charlie, follow him on Instagram. Catch Gigi & Nate in theaters today.

Photo Credit: Victoria Stevens