"Chan" Tatum
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 1:15PM 
Do any of you read GQ? I can't say that I read any magazine religiously anymore (my how things change) but I read this cover story. It's one of those celebrity profiles that makes you wonder why the star's personality offscreen doesn't transfer more to the silver screen.
One of the problems with The Eagle (full review) I think is that Channing Tatum is so serious in it that there's not a lot of tones to vary the star turn. Except, that is, for the tail end in which he cracks a smile and it suddenly feels like a different movie entirely. And one set in 2011 no less. But my point is that he sounds funny and loose and uninhibited in person -- here and elsewhere -- if not quite "wild" as the cover suggests and those things don't seem to be transferring to his performances.
I'm hoping some director can tap into this other engaging fun side of him in a future performance. But unless a male actor is a genius and adds lots of colors on their own to their performances, Hollywood rarely asks for the kind of emotive range from them that it regularly expects of the women. So for now masculine good looks and the ability to hold the camera will have to do.
Maybe his team is keeping him to buttoned up? I don't mean that literally since he still takes his shirt off with generous frequency. On his stripper past for example he says.
"I had wanted to tell people. I'm not ashamed of it. I don't regret one thing. I'm not a person who hides shit."
More photos here. I totally want this striped shirt so the advertisement (aka the photoshoot) worked its consumerist magic.
Channing Tatum, magazines
Reader Comments (10)
I really love channing tatum when he's not totally serious in movies (She's the Man, Step Up)...I think him and robert pattinson fall into the same trap with their roles.
Well actually I feel like most young (good looking) actors are required to brood so damn much, that it turns us regular people (not teenage girls) off.
I think he just needs a director to realize that he has great comedic gifts and to exploit them to their full potential
I agree, I think of all the super-glum hunks du jour, Tatum is the most 'real' - the closest thing we have to genuine gravitas, and yet not as cheeky and comedic as his only worthy predecessor the once might now fallen Vin Diesel. I thought he had great rapport with his kid sister character in Step Up, and he managed to hit the perfect deadpan note of nonchalant badassedness in GI Joe.
He looked funny in those trailers for The Dilemma. Did anyone see it? Was he good?
I totally want his body. I guess the beer bottle in the picture on the right worked its consumerist magic. ;)
Evan - ha. he does mention in the article that he has to go to the gym a lot to work off all the beer consumed. so HE isn't really selling beer as a good option :)
Erich -- hmmm. can't agree on GI Joe (i basically thought every one and every thing was bad in it... but agreed on Step Up for sure. That's totally my favorite of his performances though I recognize that he's probably "better" in A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. He's more skillful there but he totally makes STEP UP work.
Terence -- agreed. i keep trying to remember if i liked super glum mopey teen actors when i was a teenager...i just think incessant glumness is DULL unless you are very very very good at it. and can shade it in interesting ways.
The only time I ever felt he was alive on screen was in "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints." Since then, zip. And I am, ahem, quite a fan of his otherwise. But homey doesn't have it in the acting department, IMO. I HATED "The Eagle."
America... Sometimes i feel like i live there, and some times i'm just like "is that person famous? i barely remember his name".
So true! I can't tell you how many young actors have made me fall in love with them with their lively wit in interviews (Daniel Radcliffe, Orlando Bloom, etc.) making me wonder, "why are they so dull onscreen?" Some people just shouldn't be actors, I guess.
I don’t think he has what it takes to be a leading man in any movies. He can act but he doesn’t show or impress the people. I agree that the first time I watched him in A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints I was impressed after that BLEH.
Speaking of Saints, Dianne Wiest was in it and was very good. Why is it that when she plays good mother with emotion in Saints and Rabbit Hole, nobody gives her credit?
“He was still MY SON!” vs “You’ve done some bad things, sweetie"
He was actually pretty funny, crazy, dangerous and sexy in The Dilemma. Yeah, pretty sexy. Mm-hm.