10 Things You Might Not Know About Channing Tatum

Superstar Channing Tatum is returning to the big screen in February and making his debut as a director with the new movie, Dog. Dog tells the story of a former soldier desperate to get back into the military. He’s given the chance to rejoin his old unit but only if he successfully delivers a former bomb sniffing dog to the funeral of the dog’s former master, a fellow soldier being buried somewhere across the country.

Dog is a mix of comedy and drama that fits with the unique and varied career of Tatum who has proven adept at comedy and capable at drama, specifically romantic drama, but drama nevertheless. You might think you know everything about the man who became a legend in Magic Mike but in this list you may find a few things you didn’t know about the music video star turned major movie star.

Here are 10 things you might not know about Channing Tatum…

10. Channing Tatum broke into Hollywood in a Ricky Martin video

If you blink during Ricky Martin’s 2000 music video for the hit song, She Bangs, you may miss Channing Tatum making his pop culture debut. Tatum is glimpsed ever so briefly in the She Bangs video, playing a dancer, naturally, who is getting a face tattoo. For this plum, blink and you’ll miss it role, Tatum was said to have banked $400.00 for four days' work.We all gotta start somewhere.

9. Tatum Didn’t Know How to Play Basketball When He Was Cast in Coach Carter

One of the first significant roles of Channing Tatum’s career happened in 2005 when he was cast in the Samuel L. Jackson, inspiring sports coach movie, Coach Carter. Tatum’s role as Jason Lyle, wasn’t a big role but it was big enough that the producers wanted Tatum despite the fact that he’d never played basketball. Indeed, producers had to hire a trainer to help Tatum learn the game before he could shoot his scenes on the court. Thankfully, Tatum is a natural athlete, though he was far more of a natural on the football field. More on that later.

8. Channing Tatum was an extra in Tom Cruise’s Blockbuster War of the Worlds

Another of those ‘before they were stars’ stories for Channing Tatum as the young aspiring actor earned himself a cameo in the Tom Cruise-Steven Speilberg blockbuster, War of the Worlds following his Coach Carter debut. That said, you may have to search long and hard to find Tatum among the crowd outside of a crumbling church. Tatum is very briefly glimpsed in a backwards ballcap running just in front of Tom Cruise. (You may see Tatum at the :23 second point of the clip above.)

7. Tatum credits Amanda Bynes with launching his film career

Say what you will about the troubled former child star Amanda Bynes, you owe her one if you’re a fan of Channing Tatum. According to Tatum, he owes his career to Bynes who chose him to star opposite her in the teen comedy She’s the Man. Bynes has stated in interviews that the producers objected to the then unknown Tatum because he appeared so much older than the rest of the teen cast. Thankfully, Bynes was adamant that girls in the audience would go crazy for Tatum and she was right. Bynes herself even confessed to a crush on Tatum, something cited as evidence as to why he was perfect for the role of her love interest.

6. Tatum picked up the Trapeze as a hobby after making a short film

After he became a worldwide sex symbol for his killer dance moves in Step Up, Tatum discovered a new hobby, The Trapeze. Appearing in the Rita Wilson directed short film, The Trap, Tatum played a trapeze artist who gives star Jeanne Tripplehorn quite a sexy lesson in how to fly through the air on the famed circus act staple. So enamored with the trapeze after this performance, Tatum told friends he was looking to install a trapeze at his home for fun.

5. Tatum hated having to star in 2009’s G.I Joe

Though he only had nice things to say about the final cut of the 2009 blockbuster, G.I Joe, Channing Tatum wasn’t exactly excited to star in the Hasbro toy adaptation. Tatum wound up playing the role of Duke in G.I Joe by contractual obligation. According to Tatum, he had signed a three picture deal with the studio and would be sued if he turned down the role. That said, he was nearly saved from this embarrassing starring role. It was later revealed that Tatum was slotted into G.I Joe after the role of Duke was turned down by a who’s who of future blockbuster stars. This includes a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth, a pre-Captain America Chris Evans and a pre-Avatar Sam Worthington. You may also be surprised to know that of that trio, Worthington was the first choice for the role before he turned it down.

4. Tatum and co-star Jamie Bell created a ‘shipping sensation’ in The Eagle

Though 2011’s The Eagle isn’t well remembered by the average moviegoer, it was a smash hit among fan fiction writers. The Eagle starred Channing Tatum as Roman soldier and Jamie Bell as his loyal slave. The two travel to the North of Britain on a bloody and dangerous mission to recover a famed Eagle, a symbol of the legion. This all sounds rather dry and boring and the movie is grimy, gray, and quite dull. That said, if you were a lover of slash fiction, The Eagle was right up your alley. The film inspired hundreds of fan fiction stories that ‘shipped’ Marcus and Esca, the characters portrayed by Tatum and Bell, as a devoted romantic couple. For a time, Tatum and Bell, as Marcus and Esca, were among the most popular ‘ships’ among slash fiction writers even as The Eagle remained a mostly forgotten action flick.

3. Tatum’s Sex Slave Cameo in This is the End Was Supposed to be Slightly Longer

One of the many hilarious surprises in the very funny, star-studded, end of the world comedy, This is the End, is a scene stealing, all too brief, cameo by Channing Tatum. Tatum plays himself, Channing Tatum, as a sex slave/dog to actor Danny McBride who plays himself as a sort of Mad Max, post-apocalyptic cult leader. The sight of Tatum in a dog collar and leather bikini combo is certainly eye-catching and hilarious but did you know that much of his cameo ended up on the cutting room floor? According to Seth Rogan, the co-writer, director, and star of This is the End, Tatum’s role had to be cut back following bad results from a test screening. Tatum was initially supposed to be seen eating the severed leg of James Franco and drinking Franco’s blood as part of the horrific ending of This is the End but audiences were so grossed out by the scene, it was cut, making Tatum’s cameo feel rather abrupt.

2. Tatum is making another Magic Mike sequel

Fans of Channing Tatum know that he rocketed to superstardom in his sexy role in Magic Mike and the sequel Magic Mike XXL but did you know he’s returning to the role? Indeed, Tatum has another Magic Mike sequel on the way next year called Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Details on this 2023 release are still under wraps but we do know that Steven Soderbergh is directing and that Tatum’s Dog co-director, Reid Carolin has written the screenplay. There has also allegedly been discussion about bringing back Matthew McConaughey as Dallas but that is not yet confirmed.

1. Tatum went to College on a Football scholarship

Remember when I mentioned that Tatum was a talented athlete, despite not being able to play basketball? Here’s the proof of that, Tatum briefly attended college on a Football scholarship. Tatum was accepted into Glenville State College on a Football scholarship after having grown up in Alabama playing Pop Warner football as a child. Tatum is said to have given up the game and the scholarship due to the ludicrous amount of pressure from coaches to perform in grueling practices alongside a tough academic schedule. Why play football when in Hollywood he could be in a Ricky Martin music video. Tatum's football experience came into play a little in his career. 22 Jumpstreet features a football subplot and Tatum played a Quarterback in a cameo on the television series Idiotsitters.