Tatum stars as sensitive jock, Duke Orsino in She's the Man.   © DreamWorks 2006.

 

Nearly all of the media attention for She’s the Man, the gender bending comedy from DreamWorks released last month, focused on Amanda Bynes. That is a shame since the movie also featured the largest amount of screen time to date for a very talented young actor named Channing Tatum. Tatum is relatively new to acting, having had supporting roles in the films Coach Carter, Supercross, Havoc, and an un-credited scene in War of the Worlds. He also had a guest appearance on CSI: Miami in the third season. His big break and introduction to the entertainment industry was a part in the Ricky Martin video She Bangs.

Prior to acting, and after his video debut, Tatum had a very successful career as a model. He has been seen on the pages of Vogue magazine, the cover of Out , Citizen K, Contents, Elegance, and The New York Times fashion insert, and he was one of TearSheet Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful faces (October 2001). He also has worked extensively in Paris, Milan and New York in various campaigns for Nautica, Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle and Emporio Armani. Tatum has even been seen in television commercials such as for Pepsi ("Scratching"), American Eagle, and a popular Mountain Dew commercial ("Drive").

Tatum as athelete Jason Lyle from Coach Carter.  © MTV Films 2006.

In She’s the Man, Tatum spent a good deal of time walking around with only a towel draped around his waist, or not wearing a shirt. Gauging the response that he has received, especially from the younger female set, this was probably a good call. With his looks and build, Tatum could carry a profitable 90-minute movie with minimal dialogue...as long as he wasn’t wearing much. When you add in the fact he can actually act, you may have the ingredients for a future superstar.

In the film, Tatum pulls off the role of the athletic jock hiding a sensitive side, with ease. When asked how he himself compared to his character, he said, “I think all jocks have a sensitive side. It’s just, will they show it to anybody? Will they let their guard down and stop being tough and the cool jock guy around their friends, or just relax? I don’t know if it’s best to say opening up, but just relax and really say what you’re actually thinking, and not what you think people want to hear.”

Duke, the character Tatum plays in She’s the Man, shows his sensitive side to his roommate, a side that he can’t really bring himself to show to the woman who has caught his interest. Of course, the roommate is really Amanda Bynes’ character, pretending to be her brother so she can join the school’s all male soccer team. But the moments of “male” bonding that they share lead to a real on-screen chemistry between the two stars.

 

Tatum became close friends with Bynes during the filming of She’s the Man, and still keeps in contact with her. “We’ve made a pact that, anytime that we think of each other, we’ll just leave a message,” he said. “We’re both really, really busy, so it’s kind of hard to go and see each other a lot. But, we’ll always keep in touch.”

Tatum's exotic look earned him the lead in the Russian production of Ghengis Khan.  He later pulled out of the movie due to schedule conflicts.

Tatum’s current project is Stop Loss, a film from director Kimberly Pierce about an American soldier returning home from the Iraq war. At the time of this interview, Tatum wouldn’t say much about the project, but a few details have been leaking out. “I’m not allowed to tell anybody right now what it is, but it’s a war movie,” he said. Asked if that was the reason for his post She’s the Man haircut, he replied, “That’s not really why I shaved my head because we’re not starting to work on it yet.”

“I just cut it for myself,” he added. 

Tatum’s look seems to vary dramatically with the length of his hair. When his hair is grown out as in She’s the Man, he looks very much like the Caucasian kid from suburbia middle America. When he shaves his head, however, his look becomes what some have described as exotic; some foreign media outlets have described him incorrectly as Asian American, or of mixed race. His ancestry is actually Native American, Irish, and French. His exotic looks landed him a lead role in the Russian production of Genghis Khan, though he recently pulled out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with his other work.
 

Tatum stars as Tyler Gage in Step Up.  He is sentenced to community service at a peforming arts high school, and ends up joining the production.   © Buena Vista 2006.

Next out in theatres, August 11, 2006,  is the film Step Up, which features Tatum as a delinquent youth sentenced to community service at a performing arts high school. “It’s a Disney break-dancing movie, so it should be fun,” he said. “It was called ‘Music High,’ but it’s not a musical.” The movie wasn’t yet titled at the time of this interview. “We can’t figure out a name for it, for some weird reason, but it’s definitely not a musical,” Tatum commented. “The whole movie has music in it, and there’s dancing. There are artists in the movie who do sing, but it’s not breaking out into song.”