Why Channing Tatum Has Never Done A Musical (And Probably Never Will)
Channing Tatum turned 45 this year (I've no idea how that happened), which is pretty offensive to any man between the ages of 35 and 45 who doesn't look like a world-class athlete or a Calvin Klein underwear model. In addition to not aging like normal mortals should, Tatum is also such a stupendously gifted dancer (the "Step-Up" and "Magic Mike" franchises, hello) for a leading man that it should be illegal. You'd think the guy could do anything as long as music and acting are involved. Yet, as impossible as it may sound (but a solace for us regular folks with no multitude of great talents), he has a weakness: he can't sing!
At least, that's what he told Deadline when a reporter for the outlet asked him whether he'd ever consider doing a musical. The actor explained:
"I can't sing that well [LAUGHS]. This is the only problem. I will do a danceical until my heart, until my feet fall out. But I just really don't believe ... I think everybody is like, 'Yeah, he'd be great at a musical.' And then, I don't know. I think people would be left wanting a little bit. I don't even do karaoke. I mean, maybe if it was the right songs and picked right for my thing. I'm not totally closed to it, I'm just very scared of it. I would need to have some time and be like, all right ... because lots of times you say yes to a project before you actually know if you can do it. I think it would have to be one of those things that I'd go and test and make sure that I can pull it off."
Yes, that sounds like a very long "no," but you never know...
Tatum has come a long way since dancing his way into worldwide recognition as a skillful actor
Like most people, I learned about Tatum when he exploded onto the Hollywood scene in 2006 with the box office rocket "Step Up," a danceical I was coerced into watching by my ex-girlfriend. Although I wasn't the target audience, to say the least, it was blatantly obvious that this handsome devil had a bucketload of charm and charisma. Then I saw Dito Montiel's criminally underrated drama, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," in the same year, which was further confirmation that Tatum wasn't solely riding on his pretty-boy looks. He had a brooding machismo and an inherent vulnerability that made him naturally magnetic and fascinating to watch. It's a quality that's started to bear more fruit for the actor over the past 10 years or so, once Hollywood stopped typecasting him as the love interest, eye-candy, and/or funny guy in generic rom-coms, fighting movies, and similar projects.
Not that he wasn't an ideal fit for those lighter genre films (he surely was), but they often didn't utilize his talent and range to the max. What they did, however, was get him ready for the meatier, more dramatic roles he began getting in the early 2010s. From "Side Effects" to "Foxcatcher" to "Logan Lucky" to "Blink Twice," Tatum was clearly turning into the type of versatile actor who can do almost anything if the material is right. By now, he has grown into a reliable and confident leading man — his latest movie, "Roofman," is a perfect example of that from what I hear — who can tackle complex, multi-layered, and controversial characters with ease. So, as much as he's "scared of it," doing a musical might not be his kryptonite after all.