Channing Tatum says wearing a thong is “humbling” in Magic Mike movie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Channing Tatum talks about putting his real-life sexy stripper skills to good use in his new movie Magic Mike. Channing Tatum really needs no introduction when it comes to playing (or just being), the sexy hot guy. In his next movie, Magic Mike, in which he’s also a producer, Tatum takes hotness to a whole new level playing the star of a strip club show, in which he once again puts his famous dance moves to work.

“I mentioned that I’d worked as a stripper for eight months when I was 18 and 19 years old. I’ve always thought about doing a story about that life because whenever the subject comes up, guys always want to know about it,” Tatum says about the idea for making the movie. “How’d you get into it? What was it like? How much money did you make? Steven Soderbergh said, ‘You should do it. Absolutely. You should write it and I’ll direct it.’”

So when Tatum went to the Oscar-winning director with the idea, he wasn’t sure about how he would receive it. “It was one of the best ideas I’d ever heard for a movie,” says Soderbergh. “It’s sexy, funny and crazy, and a view into an interesting, exclusive environment most people never experience.”

 (See pictures from Magic Mike here)

Magic Mike follows the story of Mike, an aspiring entrepreneur, who at night is the hot headliner in an all-male revue at Club Xquisite. The more the ladies love him, the more they spend, and the happier that makes club owner Dallas (Matthew

McConaughey). Seeing potential in a guy he calls the Kid (Alex Pettyfer), Mike takes the 19-year-old under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of dancing, partying, picking up women and making easy money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His character Mike isn’t all eye-candy, though. He’s, as Tatum describes, “Jack of all trades” who is trying to build a design business. “He’s an honest energetic, resourceful guy who believes the key to success is having many irons in the fire. Toward that end, he’s juggling a construction gig and an auto detailing business, and appearing weekend nights as Magic Mike. But the one venture dearest to his heart—his dream job—is the one not making him a cent: designing and building one-of-a-kind furniture he hopes one day to sell… as soon as the market takes an upturn and he can swing a loan.”

Although Tatum knew what to do first hand with his character, he says it’s not based on his life story. “None of the characters are based on real people, not even my own,” Tatum confirms. “Everything that happens is fictional, and we did that purposely because we wanted the freedom to create our own scenarios and tell the best story. It was the atmosphere and energy of it I wanted to capture, and that feeling of being at a time in your life when you’re trying things out, and up for anything. You might have a plan for the future, but for now it’s about that next paycheck, that next party, and just having a good time.”

Tatum says his stint as a stripper in his teens came about accidentally after hearing a radio show announce a casting call for  dancers for an all-male revue. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ I could dance,” he says. “It sounded like something I could do for fun for awhile. I’d show up for two hours and make $150, sometimes as much as $600 a week, all cash, which was a ton of money for me at the time,” he continues. “I really enjoyed the performing aspect of it, although being in a thong can be a humbling experience. The more you try to look sexy the lamer it is, so you just have to commit to the comedy and the skit because that can be hilarious. Strippers are some of the corniest guys you’ll ever meet. If it’s a fireman skit, it has to be the corniest possible version of a fireman, but the women love it; they scream and laugh and stuff money into your underwear. It was wild. We thought we were rock stars.”

Magic Mike opens Friday, June 29 and also stars Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matt Bomer, Riley Keough, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez and Gabriel Iglesias.

 

 

—Toni-Marie Ippolito