Indeed, 2020 has been “the year of everything Channing.” He co-stars in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Haywire’, ‘The Vow’ with Rachel McAdams, and ’21 Jump Street’, the film adaptation of TV series of the same name with Jonah Hill, in the sequel to ‘G.I. Joe’, and, of course, he stars in ‘Magic Mike’, a film based loosely on the actor’s real-life stripping experiences. “It doesn’t have much to do with the real me. Yeah, I worked on a construction crew, and I was a 19-year-old kid who stripped, and I have a sister. But that’s it,” the 32-year-old hunk told Glamour magazine.
Speaking about filming the stripping scenes, Channing Tatum confesses that, “Hilarious. Every single guy, from Matthew McConaughey to Matt Bomer to Joe Manganiello, just jumped in and committed. Our choreographer would be like, ‘Grab your package!’ You couldn’t keep a straight face.”
Well, it seems that stripping is meant to be funny. “That’s kind of the whole point of male stripping. You go out and make a fool of yourself. That’s what girls and women want. It’s not really sexy. It’s kind of cheesy. Women are so sultry and sexy, and that’s why guys go to strippers. But I think girls go to be embarrassed with their friends,” the actor says.
Tatum spent most of his teenage years in the Tampa, Florida area. On dancing, the actor told Glamour magazine that, “I grew up in Florida, which has a huge Spanish population, and there were these quinceañeras every weekend. I got tired of being the tall, skinny white kid standing in the corner. I’ve always loved moving and music, so I put them together.”
So, did Tatum feel overwhelmed with all the projects he had this year? “The fun part is making the film; it’s promoting the movies that’s overwhelming. But for Magic Mike, we’re going to do some creative stuff, like put on an actual strip show,” he admits.
In 2020, Tatum met actress Jenna Dewan on the set of Step Up. The two began dating shortly after filming had finished, became engaged in early September 2020 in Maui, Hawaii and got married on July 11, 2020, in Malibu, California. On spending time with his wife, Channing reveals that, “My wife and I go camping. There are no cell phones, no TV, no iPad, no nothing. We just sit by the campfire, and sip wine or beer, and talk.”
Speaking about how celebrity changed people’s behavior towards him, Tatum says that, “I’m not like Elvis! Nobody’s crying in front of me. The weirdest thing is when fans come up and hand you their phone and are like, ‘Here, talk to my friend.’” “You’d think it’s kids, but no, it’s mainly straight-up 50-year-old women. Next time that happens, I’m just going to put it in my pocket and walk home,” the actor adds.
Photos: Getty Images, Entertainment Weekly