Channing Tatum

Actor

• Born: April 26, 1980
• Place of Birth: Cullman, Alabama

Contribution: Channing Tatum is an actor best known for his roles in Step Up (2006), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Magic Mike (2012), and 21 Jump Street (2012). Since then, the actor has appeared in many films, including Dog (2022), The Lost City (2022), Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023), and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

Channing Matthew Tatum was born on April 26, 1980, in Cullman, Alabama, to Glenn and Kay Tatum, a building supplies salesperson and an airline worker. When he was six years old, the Tatum family, which also includes his younger sister Paige, moved to rural Mississippi. As a youth, Tatum struggled with learning disabilities and was prescribed Ritalin and Dexedrine. In elementary school, Tatum practiced karate under Coach Kenneth Hendrix and kung fu Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong.

The Tatums then moved to Tampa, Florida, where Tatum attended high school and was involved in sports, including football, baseball, and soccer. Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia, offered Tatum a football scholarship, but he dropped out after only a year and returned to Florida.

There he performed a variety of odd jobs, such as construction work and selling cologne. He eventually became a stripper in Miami, Florida, where he caught the eye of a modeling scout and was signed to an agency.

Career

Tatum’s modeling work led him to be cast as a dancer in the music video “She Bangs” for singer Ricky Martin. Feeling that modeling was no longer challenging for him, he decided to become an actor. He made his debut in a 2004 episode of the crime drama CSI: Miami and from then on pursued acting as a full-time job.

The actor’s first feature film role came the following year, in the sports drama Coach Carter (2005). This was a busy year for Tatum, who also appeared in Havoc and Supercross. He first began receiving critical recognition with the film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), in which he plays a young criminal; he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for best supporting male for his performance.

Tatum’s big break came with the dance film Step Up (2006), directed by Anne Fletcher. Tatum stars in the lead role alongside Jenna Dewan. Tatum plays Tyler Gage, a troubled teenager who is assigned community service at a performing arts school. The role required Tatum to utilize his dance background in multiple dance sequences. While critics gave Step Up poor reviews, it earned over $65 million worldwide and gained Tatum national attention.

Tatum starred in several films in the following years and portrayed a wide range of characters. He played a decorated Iraq war veteran in Stop-Loss (2008) and a street hustler in Fighting (2009). In 2009, he also appeared as legendary gangster Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd in Public Enemies. That year, Tatum also starred in the high-profile film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In the film, he plays Duke, an American soldier who joins a team of elite troops. Critics generally panned the film, but it grossed over $300 million worldwide.

Tatum continued to progress as a dynamic actor when he starred alongside Amanda Seyfried in the romantic drama Dear John (2010). His character, John Tyree, is a soldier who exchanges letters with his love while he is deployed overseas. The following year was another busy period for Tatum, who starred in the action films The Son of No One and The Eagle and appeared in the comedy The Dilemma and the thriller Haywire.

The year 2012 saw Tatum in another romantic film, The Vow, opposite Rachel McAdams; while the film was given negative reviews, it performed well at the box office and became one of the highest grossing romantic films of all time. Up next was the well-received comedy 21 Jump Street (2012), based on the 1980s television series of the same name. In addition to serving as an executive producer, Tatum starred alongside Jonah Hill as young police officers assigned an undercover job posing as high school students.

Tatum’s next major work was Magic Mike (2012), a film partially based on Tatum’s career as a stripper in Florida. He once again took on a role as producer in addition to starring in the film. Many critics named Magic Mike as one of their top films of the year, and Tatum was praised for his performance as the titular Mike Lane. In 2013, Tatum appeared in the thriller Side Effects before reprising his role as Duke in the sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The actor kept up his run of action roles by starring in White House Down (2013), in which he plays a US Capitol police officer.

After portraying real-life amateur wrestler Mark Schultz in the Academy Award-nominated drama Foxcatcher (2014) and reprising his roles in the sequels 22 Jump Street (2014) and Magic Mike XXL (2015), Tatum made appearances in the Quentin Tarantino film The Hateful Eight (2015) as well as the star-studded Joel and Ethan Coen film Hail, Ceasar! (2016). In 2017, he ventured further into the television medium with the Amazon original satirical series Comrade Detective, which he both stars in and executive produces. That same year, he returned to the big screen for roles in Logan Lucky and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. He then lent his voice to the animated films Smallfoot (2018) and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).

Tatum continued enjoying an active film career in the 2020s, playing parts in movies like Free Guy (2021), Dog (2022), and The Lost City (2022) before returning to the screen as Mike Lane once again in Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023). Some of his other subsequent film credits included roles in Fly Me to the Moon (2024), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Blink Twice (2024).

In addition to his acting career, Tatum also found success as a children's book author. His first published work was 2021's The One and Only Sparkella. A New York Times bestseller, the book soon followed by two sequels, including The One and Only Sparkella Makes a Plan (2022) and The One and Only Sparkella and the Big Lie (2023).

Impact

In the years after starting his acting career, Tatum appeared in numerous films. During this prolific time, he proved himself to be more than just an action star, successfully taking on roles in comedies and dramas as well.

Personal Life

Tatum married his Step Up costar Jenna Dewan on July 11, 2009, in Malibu, California. They had a daughter, Everly, who was born in 2013, before divorcing in 2018. Shortly after, Tatum entered a high-profile relationship with singer Jessie J. He later dated and became engaged to actor Zoë Kravitz.

Bibliography

Barnes, Brooks. “Making a Leading Man, Many Movies at a Time.” The New York Times, 9 Mar. 2012, query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E6DE1F38F932A25750C0A9649D8B63&pagewanted=all. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

"Channing Tatum." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm1475594. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Cohen, Rich. "Channing Tatum's Extra Gear." Vanity Fair, Aug. 2015, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/07/channing-tatum-magic-mike-xxl-annie-leibovitz-cover. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Cohen, Rich. “In Tatum Territory.” Vanity Fair, July 2013, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/07/channing-tatum-cover-story-fatherhood. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Schepp, Calie. "How Channing Tatum's Daughter Inspired His New Children's Book, The One and Only Sparkella and the Big Lie." Entertainment Weekly, 2 June 2023, ew.com/books/channing-tatum-daughter-inspiration-sparkella-big-lie. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.

Scott, A. O. “Memorable Men 2012: Channing Tatum.” The New York TimesMagazine, 9 Dec. 2012, p. 38.

Tatum, Channing. “Channing Tatum Takes an Alternate-Reality Approach to His Stripping Past in Magic Mike.” Interview by Genevieve Koski. AV Club, 27 June 2012, avclub.com/channing-tatum-takes-an-alternate-reality-approach-to-h-1798231958. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.