Channing Tatum was a stripper for eight months. He now says he did the job for excitement, which, the actor says, was expected given his age at the time.
“I mean, I was 18 and just kind of looking to go a little crazy, you know. I was looking for the wild time and I found it.”
The star describes the job as “a little crazy” because he was 18 when he landed a spot at a club. But in stripping, as a job, the 45-year-old admits much has changed.
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s weird,” he shares on The Drew Barrymore Show. “Back then, it was a different kind than we’re doing now.”
Tatum explains that the nature of the job involves interacting with strangers. But these experiences often left with entertaining incidents, but at other times, weird ones.
“You go out and get on somebody you don’t know and it’s fun until somebody’s like, ‘You remind me of my nephew.’ And you’re like, ‘What?? Okay…can I have the dollar now?’ Moving on. It’s weird.”
But if one looks back, Tatum’s short detour into stripping world proved a godsend to his career because it gave birth to the Magic Mike franchise, which is reportedly worth $180 million.
The franchise began with films based on the actor’s life as a stripper in Florida and expanded into a massive entertainment empire, including reality shows, music competitions, and more.
