Interview

MARLON WAYANS: So when did you start hip-hop dancing?

CHANNING TATUM: I think when I was around 15. My sister was friends with the manager of a nightclub, and I remember going there to deliver these flyers—her boyfriend did graphic design. So I remember that they got me into this club, and there were these guys in this circle who were flipping and doing all this crazy stuff, and I was just like, “Oh, my god. I want to do that!” I was seeing this guy spin on his head . . .

WAYANS: Can you do head spins?

TATUM: I can get around, like, two or three times, but I’m not graceful at it. I can’t do it like real breakers can.

WAYANS: So how, then, did you get discovered?

TATUM: At one point I just decided, “All right, I’ve got to try to do something with my life.” So I went down to Miami, and somebody saw me on the streets, and that’s how I got into modeling.

WAYANS: So you were just hanging out on the streets of Miami with your shirt off, and someone was like, “Oh, he’s fly. I’m going to make him a model”?

TATUM: Yeah, pretty much.

WAYANS: That would never have happened to me—although I was found in the streets, too. [Tatum laughs] Who did you model for?

TATUM: [pauses] Abercrombie & Fitch . . .

WAYANS: [laughs] I love it! How could you keep that from me?

TATUM: Why do you think I kept it from you?

WAYANS: [laughs] There are certain things you tell people up-front, like, “I’ve got herpes,” or, “I was an Abercrombie model.” So when you were modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch, were you, like, the dude who stands outside the store all greased up, with abs that go all the way down to his perineum?

TATUM: Nah, man. I was actually one of the guys in the catalog. I had to put on a chicken suit at one point. I was like a mascot. We were in a locker room, and there were a bunch of dudes with abs all the way down to their . . . whatever  the hell—their perineums? And then I was in the chicken suit standing next to them . . . [Wayans continues to laugh] Stop.

WAYANS: Okay . . . [laughs some more] So what did you do after that? What was the progression?

TATUM: I did some campaigns, and then . . . I don’t know. Modeling was successful for me. I didn’t have to wait tables or anything like that, so that was nice. And I got to see the entire world. Then I auditioned for a Pepsi commercial, and I got it, and that was incredibly fun. So I thought, Well, maybe I should try this acting thing . . .

WAYANS: When we were doing the shooting scenes on G.I. Joe, you were a little bit better versed at using the guns than a lot of the guys. You want to explain that?

TATUM: I’m from Alabama—I like guns.

WAYANS: Did y’all get them for birthday gifts when you were, like, 3 years old? How long have you been shooting?

TATUM: Well, the first and only time I went hunting, I shot a deer, and it mortified me. I just couldn’t do it again. But I know a lot about guns, so I go to the gun range and stuff like that with friends sometimes.

WAYANS: I’ll take you shooting. I’d go sometimes because I had to practice for the film.