Bruno plays a news reporter in the movie, which follows the true story of Jeffery Manchester, who is portrayed by Channing Tatum.
In the new movie “Roofman,” Elon University alumnus Joe Bruno ’14 takes his day job to the big screen and steps into the role of Adrian Baracco, a broadcast reporter.
The movie, which stars Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, follows the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a man who escapes from prison and survives undetected for months while living inside a Toys “R” Us store.
Though Bruno was too young to have known much about the story when it was actually unfolding, he had read a few stories about it prior to auditioning for his role.
“It’s hard to believe it actually happened, but it did,” Bruno said.
The story takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the early 2000s, and Bruno said that a goal of director Derek Cianfrance was to make the movie seem as authentic as possible. So Cianfrance cast Charlotte residents in roles aligned to their actual day jobs, which is how Bruno stumbled across the opportunity.
“He wanted to cast people who were intimately familiar with the roles,” Bruno said.
While at Elon, Bruno studied broadcast journalism and now works as a reporter for WSOC-TV in Charlotte, mainly covering breaking news.
After seeing the casting call for the movie, he decided to submit a tape that he recorded on his deck just for fun. But he soon learned he had gotten a callback for the role.
During his callback, Bruno met with the director and a few producers of the movie, where he showcased his high school drama club experience and reinforced that if the “Roofman” story was happening today, he would be the one reporting on it. The team offered him the role on the spot.
“It’s incredibly realistic in the fact that this is what I would be doing had the crimes been unfolding today,” Bruno said.
This familiarity, as well as Bruno’s comfort level being on screen, made the filming process an easy one for him. The fictional broadcast script was written similarly to the TV news scripts he has to deliver for his day job, which made it easier for him to memorize his lines, as well.
Bruno’s scenes were filmed on location in Charlotte, in front of a former Burger King that the set design team had converted into a McDonald’s.
“The coolest part was just seeing how Charlotte was so well represented in the movie,” Bruno said.
Overall, the auditioning and filming process was surreal for Bruno, and though he doesn’t plan on entering the acting world full-time anytime soon, he is happy he got to be part of “Roofman.”
“It was just a fun experience,” Bruno said.