Hollywood star recalls life as a stripper

CANCUN, Mexico – “What was in my locker in the school I went to?  Probably a whole lot of TMZ stuff,” said a laughing Channing Tatum, looking relaxed in this coastal paradise in eastern Mexico. He plays a new police officer who goes undercover in a local high school in “21 Jump Street,” based on the TV series that launched Johnny Depp’s career.

Channing recalled his past as a football player and as a stripper. “I had a long-term girlfriend pretty much my entire life. I didn’t date all that much. I’ve done all the good and bad things that you can think of growing up in Florida,” he said.

The Alabama native shot to stardom in “Step Up.” He stressed that there’s not very much to hide in his life. “I’m not ashamed of my past. I ended up on the right side of things. I don’t struggle with addiction. I have a beautiful wife (actress Jenna Dewan), a house and two dogs. I didn’t have those when I was 19.  But I wanted them, and that was my little journey. I went through some dark times to get to where I am now.”

Channing is poised to become a bigger star this year with two upcoming films: “21 Jump Street,” with Jonah Hill; and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” There are other interesting projects on the way—“The Bitter Pill,” “Ion,” and “Foxcatcher.”

Below are excerpts from our interview:

Did you watch the original TV show?

I was a big fan of the show so I watched Johnny Depp every Friday. My sister and I were in love with Johnny Depp. I mean, with all of them—Peter DeLuise and Richard Grieco. It was such a staple of growing up.

So I was terrified to meet Johnny. I don’t like meeting famous people, folks that I’ve watched my whole life, because I turn weird. I get tongue-tied. I want to say something cool but I find myself with nothing to say! And then you end up walking away from them. You replay the entire conversation in your mind and you ask yourself, “Why were you trying to be funny when you’re not?”

On his first day on the set, Johnny didn’t look like himself. He was a completely different person. He looked like an old ZZ Top biker guy. I could talk to him. His voice sounded familiar. It wasn’t weird. He was telling me all kinds of stories. He was an awesome guy, but then when it came for him to rip his face off, I couldn’t talk to him! I was like, “Oh my god, it’s Johnny Depp.” The whole set got weird after he took his face off. It was strange but he’s a great guy. I’ve watched him for so long it’s insane.

What was the funniest incident that happened on the set?

There’s a running scene on the freeway. Jonah and I are fleeing from the guys on choppers. It was two straight days of sprinting. We were jumping into one car, sliding over to another, and then jumping again into another one. Neal Moritz, being the amazing producer that he is, decided to get us a masseuse. We closed down one side of the freeway. On the other side, cars were driving by, just three feet away, while Jonah was in a Peter Pan costume, lying down on a table being massaged by this lady.

I was like, this is too good. Not only did I have it videotaped but I also replaced the masseuse and started to massage Jonah. Everybody was coming ’round taking pictures. It was hilarious. I got up onto the table and straddled Jonah while massaging him. He let me do some really weird stuff so I don’t know where he’s been getting massages. It certainly ain’t where I get mine! That went on for a while. Then finally, he was like, “Oh man, get off me.” That was about the extent of pranking on the set.

Was this comedic role a huge stretch for you, or has there always been a funny guy in you waiting to come out?

I don’t really think I’m a funny guy. Fun, more than likely. I was definitely a clown. There were a lot of people I think, who were more comedic than I was, especially in the script. Jonah worked with me a lot. He was like, “Play it real, just be honest. You’re a good actor. Play it like it’s a drama. Let the circumstances be funny. That was the hardest thing. But then you figure out not to look for the funny in the situation. You let other people laugh and not laugh at it yourself while you’re doing it. It was a learning process.

If you could go back to high school, what is the one thing about yourself that you’d want people to change their impression of?

That I was stupid. No, actually it’s something really simple—like I didn’t read that well. We kind of tailored it a little bit for my character Jenko. He’s not dumb but he’s not the quickest one. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, if you will. I’m not stupid but I hated being the last to turn in my test! Everyone around me turned in their test before I did every single time.

I didn’t like to read out loud. I’d put my head down when everybody in the class had to read a paragraph each from a story like “Hamlet” or something. I just wouldn’t do it. I would be like, “No, I’m not doing it.” I felt stupid for a long time because I had dyslexia or whatever. I couldn’t read well.

How did you cope?

When I first started acting I wanted to educate myself. I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing. My business partner taught me so much about writing, story theory, and structure. Then he and I produced and financed “Magic Mike.”

I learned stuff on a constant basis which I didn’t do in high school. College was lost on me. I didn’t do my part of the work, but now I’m making up for it. I’m putting in the work now. I love working and learning. Every single movie that I do hopefully takes me a few steps forward and makes me better.

“Magic Mike” is based on your experience as a male stripper. Can you talk about that?

I can talk a lot about that (laughing). I had a small part in Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire.” Over beer, I told him that I had been a stripper for about eight or nine months of my life. His mouth dropped open and he was like, “You should write about it.” I was like, “Yeah Steven Soderbergh, I’m going to write a script even though I’ve never written a script before!”

But the thought stayed in the back of my mind. Then I read an article where someone interviewed Steven and asked him if he would direct if it was ever made into a film. I called him up as soon as I read that. I asked him, “Are you serious, man? You really want to do this?” He said he was as serious as a heart attack. We sat down over hotdogs at Carney’s on Sunset and decided to finance it. We wrote it ourselves. Steven didn’t know if I could write a script with my buddy Reid (Carolin). We got to work and now the picture is pretty much locked. We’re doing the final touches so it has been insane. I learned an immense amount in a very short time.

What is the story?

The story is essentially about this guy, Magic Mike. He’s a 30-year-old stripper. He wants more out of life but can’t get out of this rut. He feels frustrated that he’s been a stripper for six years. He dreams of something greater but every time the dream starts to take shape, it gets taken away from him.  He feels he’s living in a real dark world.

We wanted to show how a 19-year-old comes in and gets shown the ropes by an older guy, who then realizes what he’s done with his life by seeing what’s going to happen with this kid.

When I started as a stripper, I was a 19-year-old kid into drugs and sex. You think you’re something greater than you are because you’re onstage and an audience is screaming for you. You feel powerful. But you’re really a loser. At the end of the night, you’re actually nothing other than a guy taking his clothes off for two hours and getting 200 bucks for it.

At 19, 200 bucks was a lot of money to me. It was intoxicating. You can get all wrapped up in that because at 19, there’s nothing more you want than money, girls, and a good time. Magic Mike realizes toward the end of the movie that all he’s been doing the past six years was keeping the party going and lying to himself that things were going to get better. So he has to decide whether to walk away from it or not.

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TAGS: Channing Tatum, Entertainment, Television