You may know Channing Tatum as “Magic” Mike, but the Alabama native has quite an impressive movie roster under his belt. The hunky actor came from humble beginnings, born in a small town called Cullman. His mother Kay was an airline worker, while his father Glenn worked in construction. Growing up, Tatum’s parents signed him up to play all different sports like baseball, soccer, and football to keep him out of trouble. In the ninth grade, he was sent to a Catholic school and there he discovered his passion for football. Tatum said “girls were always [his] biggest distraction in school” and discussed his struggles with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and dyslexia. He earned an athletic college scholarship to a school in West Virginia.
After college, he worked as a construction worker, a stripper, a mortgage broker and a salesman. Tatum stripped under the name “Chan Crawford.” In 2010, he told the Sydney Morning Herald that he wanted to make a movie about his experiences as a stripper, which led to the Magic Mike movies. After stripping for almost a year, Tatum moved to Miami, where he was discovered by a model talent scout and modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Gap, Aeropostale, Emporio Armani. He has also been featured in television commercials for American Eagle, Pepsi, and some very popular Mountain Dew commercials prior to getting into the world of acting.
Tatum’s first role on the big screen was as a supporting actor in 2005’s Coach Carter. The following year, he had a leading role opposite Amanda Bynes in She’s The Man. That same year, Tatum starred opposite his future wife Jenna Dewan in the dance/romance movie Step Up, which was his breakout role. Since the early aughts, Tatum managed to land movie role after movie role and has made quite a successful and respected acting career nearly twenty years later.
See below our favorite roles that Channing Tatum has played over the course of his acting career so far:
