Channing Tatum and Steve Carell, the stars of the upcoming film Foxcatcher, spoke about taking punches, facing struggles and embracing their dark side at an exclusive press conference Sunday to promote the drama.

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Foxcatcher, which tells the true story of Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, often leaves the viewer guessing whether or not the fight scenes are real. Tatum, who attended the conference with Carell at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, revealed that wrestling cannot be faked on screen.

"The hard hits - I don't think they'll ever leave my body for sure," Tatum admitted. "You can't fake wrestling. We learn very, very quickly, you can fake a punch... but with wrestling you just have to go ahead and do it." 

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In the movie, Tatum plays Schultz, who forms a relationship with his sponsor John du Pont (Carell). As they train for upcoming games, their connection seems to be shaky, especially with Mark's brother David (Mark Ruffalo) in the picture.

Tatum admitted that there were times during filming where he didn't feel like he was doing a good job at first, but his relationship with Ruffalo helped him pull through.

"You don't feel like you're doing very well at all especially in the beginning when you're learning and one person is getting something better than you are," the actor said. "And I think Mark and I both were just there for each other throughout that learning process. And knowing what each other was struggling with, we learned on a very kind of small, small level what it is to really be there for someone on that level."

Carell also had a little trouble of his own. The actor said that John du Pont was not a part he would've campaigned for, but decided to take on the role when he discussed it in better detail with director Bennett Miller.

"When Bennett called me in and we discussed it, I trusted him, frankly," Carell said. "The fact that he thought I was capable of doing it allowed me to believe the same."

Carell, who jokingly said that he is "very dark inside," also dished on how he prepared to play the mentor with a morbid side.

"I think he was lonely and in need of things that he didn't have the tools to acquire, so starting with that, I think that helped me along the way," the actor said.

"He was somebody that I think was in need of assistance, he was somebody that didn't have a circle of friends; he had a circle of employees so no one was going to intervene," he continued. "He didn't have anyone who was there to see the red flags, and that's incredibly sad and tragic to me so I never approached him as a villain, I thought of him in that way."

Foxcatcher hits theaters on Friday, Nov. 14.

Tags: Foxcatcher Movies Channing Tatum Steve Carell