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Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum
Early life
Born in Cullman, a small city in Alabama, Tatum has one sister. He has African, French, Irish, and Native American ancestry. His family moved to Mississippi when he was six, although he visits Alabama, where his mother's family still lives. Tatum grew up in the bayous near the Mississippi River, where he enjoyed a rural existence, including "All the rattlesnakes and alligators a boy could possibly chase, fishing every day, Pop Warner football league, stuff like that."[1]

Tatum was athletic while growing up, playing American football, association football, track, baseball, and performing Martial arts, although he says that "girls were always [his] biggest distraction in school."[1] Tatum initially attended Gaither High School in Tampa, Florida. After his sophomore year, he "had an option either [to attend] a military school or a private school". He chose the private school, Tampa Catholic High School in Tampa, Florida. He graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic. Afterward, Tatum won an American football scholarship to Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia, although he soon lost interest in the sport and turned down the scholarship, citing his dislike of the demands of playing American football.


Career
Tatum's first experience was in the fashion industry as a model. He was then cast as a dancer in Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" music video, after an audition in Orlando, Florida; he was paid $400 for the job. He subsequently signed with a modelling agency in Miami, Page 305 (Page Parkes Modeling Agency), and appeared in Vogue magazine. He soon appeared in campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Dolce & Gabbana, American Eagle Outfitters, and Emporio Armani. Tatum has also starred in a few television commercials for American Eagle Outfitters, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew, and was picked as one of Tear Sheet magazine's "50 Most Beautiful Faces" of October 2001.[1]

Tatum has said that his modeling career has helped him with his life, specifying that "It's made my life, and my family's life, a lot easier, because I never knew what I wanted to do and now they don't really have to worry about me anymore. I've been able to explore life, and through exploring it I've found that I love art, I love writing, I love acting, I love all the things that make sense to me. And I've been given the chance to go out and see the world, and to see all the things out there. Not everyone gets that chance".[1]

Tatum began his acting career in 2004, appearing in an episode of the television series CSI: Miami. His first feature film role was in 2005's high school drama, Coach Carter, playing Jason Lyle, a street sMart basketball player opposite Samuel L. Jackson; Tatum also appeared in rapper Twista's "Hope" music video, which accompanied the film. In the same year, Tatum had an uncredited bit role in War of the Worlds when posing as a boy in a church, a factory endorsed top motocross racer in Supercross, and part of the supporting cast in Havoc. Although Tatum has said that he loves modeling, he has taken a break from the profession to concentrate on his acting career, saying that he prefers making more mature films.

Tatum was originally scheduled to play Genghis Khan in the film Mongol, but was replaced by actor Tadanobu Asano. He also auditioned for the role of Gambit in X-Men: The Last Stand, but was not cast as the character was eventually removed from the film.[2] The film's producer, Lauren Shuler Donner, noticed Tatum and cast him in the film She's the Man, where he plays the love interest of Amanda Bynes's character. The film opened on March 17, 2006.


Tatum as Duke Orsino in She's the ManAlso in 2006, Tatum starred in Step Up, a dance-themed romance which opened on August 11, and the 1980s-set drama A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, in which he plays Antonio, a street youth in Astoria, Queens. Tatum has described the latter film as his "first dramatic role"; his performance received positive notices at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, where the film premiered.[3] The acclaim continued when he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor".[4]

In 2008, Tatum co-starred in director Kimberly Peirce's film Stop-Loss, about soldiers returning home from the Iraq War, and will appear in director Stuart Townsend's film Battle in Seattle, about the huge 1999 protest of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.

Tatum will play in the indie film The Trap, which is directed by Tom Hanks' wife Rita Wilson. The actor was chosen to play a role in the film Poor Things, starring Lindsay Lohan, Shirley MacLaine, Rosario Dawson, and Olympia Dukakis, but had to turn down the role because of scheduling conflicts. Tatum will also be playing a soldier in another New Line Cinema film which is based on a popular Nicholas Sparks bestseller called Dear John. Besides, he will be starring in Christopher McQuarrie's upcoming feature project The Stanford Prison Experiment, Paul McGuigan's film Push, and Oliver Stone's next Vietnam War drama, Pinkville, with veteran actor Bruce Willis. Tatum is also slated to play a renegade New York City cop who must infiltrate the underground world of free running, known as parkour, to bust a seemingly unstoppable gang of bank robbers in an untitled film for New Line Cinema.

Tatum and Dito Montiel, the star and director of 2006's acclaimed independent feature A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, have signed to reteam on an action drama for Rogue Pictures. Kevin Misher will produce the film called Fighting through his Misher Films. Rogue co-presidents Andrew Karpen and Andrew Rona made the official announcement about the film. Tatum will star as Sean Arthur, a young man who scrapes up a living scalping tickets in New York City.

Fox Searchlight Pictures's subdivision Fox Atomic has also picked up a pitch from screenwriter Doug Jung. The role as a "fish-out-of-water" story where Tatum will play an American cop in South Korea, a country that no other Hollywood production studio has ever filmed in.

Tatum has been added to the cast of writer/director/producer Michael Mann's 2009 crime drama Public Enemies, in which will play the ill-fated 1930s American gangster Pretty Boy Floyd. Tatum is also slated for the role of Duke in 2009's G.I. Joe, Paramount Pictures' live-action film based on the popular Hasbro action figures.


Awards



News | What members say | Filmography | Watch online (1)

Channing Tatum - news / articles


  • Dewan & Tatum writing musical screenplay - 2 September 2009
    -Newlyweds Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum are celebrating the early months of marriage by writing a screenplay together.- -The loved-up couple, who starred together in dance film Step Up, has started work on a movie musical.- - Dewan tells Eonline.com, "We're sort of w


  • Tatum writing musical - 9 August 2009
    -G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra action star Channing Tatum is writing his own fantasy musical.- -The actor showed off his fancy footwork in 2006 movie Step Up and he reveals he's been working on a song and dance project in his spare time.- - But Tatum admits fans won't ge


  • Tatum soldiers on with army roles - 15 March 2009
    -Actor Channing Tatum was happy to take on the role of a soldier in upcoming military drama Dear John - because he is sick of the way Hollywood portrays war heroes.- -The star played an army sergeant in the 2008 film Stop-Loss, which focused on soldiers returning from I

Channing Tatum - what members say


  • She's The Man
  • She's The Man review by from London
    Rated - 5 stars GREAT FILM & LOAD OF EYE CANDY! 14 April 2006
    ...ctable... but it really wasn't. Not only is it funny but the guy Duke real name Channing Tatum is gorgeous!! so that's another big reason to go see this film. Also you may th...  
  • Step Up
  • Step Up review by A customer from peterborough
    Rated - 5 stars wow! 9 January 2007
    ...ll I am not a fan of dancing really but after watching She's the man and seeing Channing Tatum in it (HOT)I decided to go along wit my frend and see this film. Well........I...  
  • Stop Loss
  • Stop Loss review by afterglow from Brighton
    Rated - 3 stars pretty boy soldiers 29 August 2008
    ...motions of these shellshocked soldiers. But worth watching if you want to see Channing Tatum writhing around in a mud pit in tight pants! ...  

Channing Tatum - filmography


  • Fighting - BLU-RAY Version (2009)
    Starring: Terence Howard,  Zulay Henao,  Brian White
    Director: Dito Montiel
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    A small-town boy hustling his way through the big city forms an uneasy alliance with a scam artist who inducts him into the violent world of bare-knuckle brawling in A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS writer/director Dito Montiel's unforgiving urban action film. Arriving in New York City with ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 53% from 106 members
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  • Fighting on DVD (2009)
    Starring: Channing Tatum,  Terrence Howard,  Brian J. White
    Director: Dito Montiel
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for street fighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 57% from 1,081 member
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  • G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra (2009)
    Starring: Dennis Quaid,  Christopher Eccleston,  Sienna Miller
    Director: Stephen Sommers
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    The 'Real American Hero' or 'Action Man', as he is known to British audiences, goes international with this big-screen action film. Stephen Sommers (THE MUMMY, VAN HELSING) directs this live-action adventure featuring a huge cast of stars, including Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 64% from 293 members
    Due for release on 7th December 2009
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  • She's The Man on DVD (2006)
    Starring: Amanda Bynes,  Channing Tatum,  Vinnie Jones
    Director: Andy Fickman
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Amanda Bynes proves that girls can do anything guys can do in She's The Man. The laughs are non-stop when Viola, disguised as her twin brother Sebastian, joins the high school boys' soccer team and helps win the big game while unexpectedly falling for Duke, the hot star forward. Viola discovers ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 63% from 15,862 members
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  • Step Up on DVD (2006)
    Starring: Channing Tatum,  Jenna Dewan,  Damaine Radcliff
    Director: Anne Fletcher
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Tyler Gage has grown up all his life on the rough streets of the city and he knows he's unlikely to ever make it out of there. But after a brush with the law lands Tyler with a community service gig at the city's Maryland School of the Arts, everything changes. That's when he meets Nora, the school'..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 66% from 19,264 members
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Channing Tatum - watch online


  • A Guide To Recognising Your Saints to Watch Now (2006)
    Starring: Robert Downey Jr,  Shia LaBeouf,  Channing Tatum
    Director: Dito Montiel
    Certificate: Certificate: 15 (TBC)
    Watch now: Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package.
    Run time: 95 minutes
    As 36-year-old Dito (Robert Downey Jr., Good Night, And Good Luck) looks back at his childhood with Laurie (Rosario Dawson, Sin City) we are whisked off to the sweltering New York City summer of 1986. Nestled precariously between Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan is the NYC borough of Queens. For ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 71% from 28 members
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Channing Tatum facts

5 most recent films

Dear John - 5.0 stars
The Eagle of the Ninth - 3 stars
Fighting - BLU-RAY Version - 2.5 stars
Fighting - 3.0 stars
G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra - 3.0 stars

5 highest-rated films

Mongol - BLU-RAY Version - 3.5 stars
Coach Carter - 3.5 stars
Step Up - 3.5 stars
G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra - 3.0 stars
Step Up 2 The Streets - BLU-RAY Version - 3.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

The Eagle of the Ninth - 3 stars
Battle in Seattle - 3.5 stars
Dear John - 5.0 stars
Fighting - BLU-RAY Version - 2.5 stars
Fighting - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 5 times - show films
Christopher Eccleston - 4 times - show films
Arnold Vosloo - 4 times - show films
Ray Park - 4 times - show films
Said Taghmaoui - 4 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Dito Montiel - 5 times - show films
Stephen Sommers - 4 times - show films
Kimberly Peirce - 2 times - show films
Anne Fletcher - 2 times - show films
Kevin Macdonald - 1 times - show films