CHANNING TATUM

Date of Birth
26 April 1980, Cullman, Alabama, USA

Birth Name
Channing Matthew Tatum

Nickname
Chan

Height
6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography
Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles. He made his feature film debut in the sports drama, Coach Carter (2005), and had a supporting role in She's the Man (2006), before landing a leading role in Step Up (2006). He has also appeared in Fighting (2009), Public Enemies (2009), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), and Dear John (2010).
Early life
Channing Tatum was born in Cullman, Alabama, the son of Kay, an airline worker, and Glenn Tatum, who worked in construction. His ancestry includes Irish, French, and Native American. Tatum's family moved to Mississippi when he was six, and he grew up in the bayou near the Mississippi River, where he enjoyed a rural existence.

Tatum was athletic while growing up, playing 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 kung fu. Tatum spent most of his teenage years in the Tampa, Florida area and initially attended Gaither High School before going to Tampa Catholic High School. He graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic. Afterward, Tatum was awarded a football scholarship to Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia, but he turned it down. He returned home and started working odd jobs. US Weekly reported that around this time Tatum began working as an exotic dancer at a local nightclub, under the name "Chan Crawford." In 2010, he told an Australian newspaper that he would like to make a movie about his experiences as a stripper, saying, "I've already got the director picked out. I'd like Nicolas Refn, who did the movie Bronson, to do it because he's insane for it." He later moved to Miami, where he was discovered on the street by a model talent scout.

Career
Early work
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. His experience in the fashion industry began as a model working for such noted clients such as Armani and Abercrombie & Fitch. He soon moved into television commercials, landing national spots for Mountain Dew and Pepsi in 2002. 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. He was picked as one of Tear Sheet magazine's "50 Most Beautiful Faces" of October 2001. Tatum also signed with Beatrice Model agency in Milan, Italy and Ford Models in New York City.

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".

2004–2007
In 2004, Tatum landed his first real acting job in an episode of the television series CSI: Miami and decided to pursue acting full time. His first feature film role was in 2005's high school drama, Coach Carter, playing Jason Lyle, a 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 a role as a factory endorsed top motocross racer in Supercross, an uncredited part in War of the Worlds, 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 was eventually cast in the film She's the Man, where he plays Duke, the love interest of Viola Hastings, Amanda Bynes's character. The film opened on March 17, 2006, and it was a modest success at the box office, grossing about $57 million worldwide.

That same year, in 2006, Tatum starred in Step Up, a dance-themed romance, playing a rebellious hip-hop dancer who must partner with a ballerina who is in training played by Jenna Dewan which opened on August 11, 2006. The film earned a total of $21 million in its opening weekend and $114 million worldwide. He also appeared in the music video for Ciara's "Get Up", which was featured on the soundtrack of the film. Later that year, Tatum played in the 1980s-set drama A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Shia LaBeouf, in which he plays Antonio, a street youth in Astoria, Queens who uses his fists to solve problems. 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. The acclaim continued when he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor".

2008–present
In 2008, Tatum co-starred in director Kimberly Peirce's film Stop-Loss, about soldiers returning home from the Iraq War, and in director Stuart Townsend's film Battle in Seattle, about the 1999 protest of the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. Tatum played in the indie film The Trap, which was directed by Rita Wilson. He was chosen for a role in the film Poor Things, starring Lindsay Lohan, Shirley MacLaine, Rosario Dawson, and Olympia Dukakis, but had to turn it down because of scheduling conflicts.

Tatum and Dito Montiel, who worked together on A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, reteamed on the action drama Fighting for Rogue Pictures. Tatum starred as Sean McArthur, a young man who scrapes up a living scalping tickets in New York City. Tatum next appeared in writer/director/producer Michael Mann's 2009 crime drama Public Enemies, playing the 1930s American gangster Pretty Boy Floyd. The same year, Tatum starred as Duke in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Paramount Pictures' live-action film based on the popular Hasbro action figures. He also played a soldier in Dear John, a Screen Gems film based on a popular Nicholas Sparks bestseller.

Tatum and Dito Montiel will join forces again when Channing stars in 2010's action thriller The Brotherhood of the Rose. Montiel will both write and direct the film. The story is a cat-and-mouse espionage tale about two orphans raised by a top CIA agent to become assassins. When their operations go awry, they find themselves on the run, caught in a conspiracy and hunted by the most dangerous spies in the world. The book was previously adapted as a two-part NBC miniseries in 1989 that starred David Morse, Peter Strauss, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Mitchum. Tatum suffered a burn injury from an accident while filming The Eagle in Scotland. A crew member poured boiling water down Tatum's wetsuit, having forgotten to dilute the boiling water with cold river water, a technique used to keep actors warm during the shooting of a river-scene. Tatum attempted to pull the wetsuit away from his body, but the water poured down into the crotch of his wetsuit and severely burned his penis. Tatum reported the boiling water "pretty much burned the skin off the head of my dick" and that "it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life." However, Tatum reports that "Now my penis is fantastic! One hundred percent recovered."

Along with friends Reid Carolin, Adam Martingano, Brett Rodriguez, and wife Jenna Dewan, Tatum has started a production company called 33andOut Productions. Their first production is a documentary called Earth Made of Glass that follows the Rwandan President Paul Kagame and genocide survivor Jean-Pierre Sagahutu. The film was selected to premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. Tatum is currently in negotiations to star alongside Jonah Hill in the film adaptation of 21 Jump Street.

Personal life
In 2006, Tatum met actress Jenna Dewan on the set of Step Up. They began dating shortly after filming had finished. The couple became engaged in early September 2008 in Maui, Hawaii. On Saturday, July 11, 2009, they were married on the grounds of Church Estates Vineyards, in Malibu, California.

Source
The Mini Biography is from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channing_Tatum. IMDb is not affiliated with, and neither endorses, nor is endorsed by Wikipedia or any of the authors who contributed to this article. The Wikipedia content may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional or other terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details. This webpage may use the Freebase schema, licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/.

Spouse
Jenna Dewan-Tatum (11 July 2009 - present)

Trade Mark
Shaved head

Deep resonant voice


Trivia
Has modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Dolce & Gabbana and Aeropostale. In 2002, starred in commercials for both Mountain Dew ("Drive") and Pepsi ("Scratching").

His first fashion show was at Level Nightclub in South Beach, Miami (November 2000) for Men's Health magazine. His friend Vincent De Paul asked him to do the show with him. After the fashion show he began booking editorials for Ocean Drive magazine and his modeling career began.

Is of Native American, Irish, and French descent.

Was sent to a military school in ninth grade, where he joined the football team and intended to get a scholarship to play after graduation.

Big break was being cast in Ricky Martin's video for "She Bangs," where he was paid $400 for a 7-day shoot.

Moved from Alabama to Mississippi at age 6, where his family lived on a bayou.

Stills spends his summer time with his grandparents back in Alabama

Auditioned for the role of Gambit in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) before the role was eliminated.

Had worked as a construction worker, a mortgage broker, a salesman at the cologne counter of Dillard's, and a worker in a puppy/kitty nursery before started a modeling career.

Became good friends with Adam Scarimbolo, and Shia LaBeouf on the set of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006).

He is the older step-brother of actor/singer Christopher Anderson.

Received a full athletic football scholarship at Glenville State College in West Virginia, but he dropped out of college.

When in grade 9, he was given the option of either Military school or a private school; Channing chose the Military school.

During his time in school, he played football, soccer, track, and baseball.

His first fashion show was at Level Nightclub in South Beach, Miami, for Men's Health magazine.

Attended the Deena Levy Theatre Studio.

Favourite childhood film was The Goonies (1985).

When he was a child, his grandparents raised him during the summers.

Made the transition from modeling to acting because he didn't find modeling challenging enough for him.

Signed with Innovative Artists, a talent agency, to improve his acting career.

Has played a character called Duke twice, once in She's the Man (2006) and again in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).

Has a dog named Meeka with his fiancée Jenna Dewan-Tatum.

Engaged to Jenna Dewan-Tatum his costar from the movie Step Up (2006) as of September 10,2008.

He and his wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, are expecting their first child [December 17, 2012].

People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 2012.


Personal Quotes
I got crazy lucky. Like, sometimes I think I won the lottery or something. At times it feels like the bottom's gonna fall out. Just 'cause I don't really know how I got here. But I just keep moving forward, and it just keeps getting better and better. (2009 - on his career)

[on Haywire (2011)] My wife always hates when I go, "I just don't love female action movies'. I don't know why. I'll watch them, but I don't run to go and see them. I'd say, 'Find a girl that can, pardon my French, whup my ass, and I will go to the movie'. And they did! They went and found [MMA champion Gina Carano] and she did! And it was awesome. I truly loved it.

Men go to strip clubs for a pretty simple reason. It's a carnal, visual thing. The point of male stripping is to bring women onstage and embarrass them so their friends can cheer them on. Women go to watch their friends' faces turn red and to have a night of camaraderie with their girlfriends.

The more you try to look sexy, the lamer it is, so you just have to commit to the comedy.

[on being told that People Magazine voted him the 2012 'Sexiest Man Alive'] Y'all are messin' with me.


Where Are They Now
(October 2008) In South Carolina filming Dear John (2010/I).

(June 2012) Magic Mike - Press Junket in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

(April 2012) 21 Jump Street - Photo Call in Cancun, Mexico.

(February 2012) 21 Jump Street - Press Trip in Sydney, Australia.

(January 2012) The Vow - Photo call in Munich, Germany.

(March 2011) The Eagle - UK Premiere in London, England.

(July 2009) G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Photo call in London, England.

(July 2009) G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Press Conference in Sydney, Australia.

(July 2009) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra -- France premiere in Paris.

(July 2010) Ischia Global Film and Music Fest 2010 in Ischia, Italy.

(March 2010) Dear John - Gala Screening in London, England.

(July 2009) G. I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Press trip in Seoul.

(July 2009) G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Japan Premiere in Tokyo.

(July 2009) G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Germany Premiere in Berlin.

(December 2012) California University of Pennsylvania filming Foxcatcher