Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor and singer. Tatum made his film debut in the drama film “Coach Carter.” His breakthrough role was in the 2006 dance film “Step Up,” which introduced him to a wider audience. Take a look below for 28 more interesting and awesome facts about Channing Tatum.
1. Tatum was born in Cullman, Alabama, the son of Kay Tatum, an airline worker, and Glenn Tatum, who worked in construction.
2. He has a sister named Paige.
3. He is mostly of English ancestry.
4. His family moved to the Pascagoula, Mississippi area when he was six.
5. He grew up in the bayous near the Pascagoula River, where he lived in a rural setting.
6. Tatum has discussed having dealt with attention deficit disorder and dyslexia while growing up, which affected his ability to do well in school.
7. Growing up, Tatum played football, soccer, track, baseball, and performing martial arts; he has said that “girls were always [his] biggest distraction in school.” As a child, he practiced wuzuquan kung fu.
8. Tatum spent most of his teenage years in the Tampa area, and initially attended Gaither High School.
9. His parents wanted more effort and gave him the option of selecting a private high school or attending a military school; he chose Tampa Catholic High School, where he graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic.
10. He later attended Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia on a football scholarship, but dropped out. He returned home and started working odd jobs.
11. Us Weekly reported that around this time Tatum left his job as a roofer and began working as a stripper at a local nightclub, under the name “Chan Crawford”.
12. In 2010, he told an Australian newspaper that he wanted to make a movie about his experiences as a stripper. That idea led to the movie “Magic Mike.”
13. Tatum moved to Miami, where he was discovered by a model talent scout.
14. In 2000, Tatum was first 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.
15. His experience in the fashion industry began as a model working for noted clients such as Armani and Abercrombie & Fitch.
16. He soon moved into television commercials, landing national spots for Mountain Dew and Pepsi in 2002.
17. He subsequently signed with Page 305 (Page Parkes Modeling Agency), a modeling agency in Miami.
18. He was cast by Al David for Vogue magazine and soon after appeared in campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Dolce & Gabbana, American Eagle Outfitters, and Emporio Armani.
19. He was picked as one of Tear Sheet magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful Faces” of October 2001. Tatum signed with Ford Models in New York City.
20. Tatum appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s “Side Effects,” with Rooney Mara and Jude Law.
21. He reprised his role as Conrad S. Hauser/Duke in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” the sequel to 2009’s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” in an ensemble cast that included Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis.
22. Tatum reprised his role from “21 Jump Street” in its sequel, “22 Jump Street,” which was released on June 13, 2014.
23. Also in 2014, he co-starred with Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher,” the story of John du Pont, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and killed Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz, the brother of the character played by Tatum, who also had won Olympic gold.
24. Tatum started two production companies, 33andOut Productions and Iron Horse Entertainment. Their first production was the documentary “Earth Made of Glass.”
25. In 2006, Tatum met actress Jenna Dewan on the set of their movie Step Up; they married on July 11, 2009, at Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu, California.
26. They have a daughter who was born in May 2013 in London.
27. On April 2, 2018, after nearly nine years of marriage, the couple announced they were separating. Six months later, Dewan filed for divorce from Tatum.
28. He has been dating English singer Jessie J since October 2018.
