Blockbuster.co.uk - Channing Tatum Interview

Supernova-hot movie star Channing Tatum shares a sofa with Blockbuster.co.uk to mull over his phenomenal newfound fame and the making of his latest movie, Fighting. Marshall Julius reports.

The story of a fresh, young New York City criminal (Tatum) who falls in with a seasoned scam artist (Iron Man's Terrence Howard) and makes a name for himself on the bare-knuckle brawling circuit, Fighting proved a good fit for Tatum who says that although he doesn't consider himself a tough guy, he's by no means a stranger to combat.

"I grew up around fighting," says the actor who suddenly has the world at his feet, and his face on every lunchbox and pencil-case in town. "My dad boxed with gloves and stuff so we always talked about boxing and what not. I had done martial arts like Kung Fu. I went to Legends gym in LA and trained for this movie, and though I consider myself a decent athlete, as soon as we got started there, I realised boxing has nothing to do with how athletic you are. It's all mental. It's what you know, how you use it, and your mental toughness and composure. It's incredible. I would say it's 60% mental and 40% physical."

Though hardly on the right side of the law, Tatum's character in Fighting, Shawn MacArthur, is a pretty decent bloke, though obviously he has a dark side as well. "I think some of the scariest people I've met in my life have been some of the sweetest," reasons Channing. "I have this theory that as nice and sweet as you can be equates to how dangerous you can be. Like as much as you can love someone, is as much as you can hate someone. It goes in equal and opposite directions.

"I think that's Shawn. He's the nicest guy and he can take a lot, but if you push him up against the wall, he'll unleash everything he's been keeping buried and then you're in some serious trouble. He's not even a great fighter, he just keeps on getting up and I guarantee he'll be the last person standing."

Much like Shawn, Channing had a can-do attitude to the fight sequences. "In Fighting," he says proudly, "there's not a frame that I'm not in. That was very important to me. I wasn't going to do the movie unless I could actually do those physical scenes. Fighting, dancing, flipping - anything physical - I can do that."

Unlike Shawn, however, Tatum says he won't be doing the whole bare-knuckle brawling thing. "It's very real though," insists the actor. "I don't think it's as glamorous as it's portrayed. So many people are betting. You can get all of this information online. There's Felony Fights on YouTube. There's a lot of underground fighting going on and some of it's pretty brutal. But it's absolutely fascinating as well."

Tatum seems equally fascinated with his female co-star, the beautiful Zulay Henao. "Zulay is one of the youngest and most talented ladies I've ever met. It's so hard for young girls in this industry. I didn't know this until I started dating actresses and getting to know them. They were like, 'Oh we have it so much harder than you guys...' And then I got to see it first-hand. It really is a thousand times harder for women, because there are less roles for them, and I respect her so much that she has been able to keep her head and her integrity, and that she hasn't sold out and done just any kind of movie. This movie showcases her real talent."

Regarding Tatum's talents, there'll soon be on display in a trio of big screen adventures heading our way in 2010: wartime romance Dear John, from director Lasse Hallstrom; historical epic The Eagle of the Ninth, from director Kevin Macdonald; and action thriller The Brotherhood of the Rose, which marks Channing's third collaboration with director Dito Montiel, following A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) and Fighting. "I think maybe we hear or see the world in the same way," says Tatum of Montiel. "His writing fits in my mouth very well."

As for being the latest big thing, Channing insists that "...if I could still be successful making films and somehow remain a private person, that would be great. Because acting is just what we actors like to do. I'm certainly not in it to be famous. People who do it for the fame, I don't know if they're ever really successful. But my life is changing," he accepts with a smile and a shrug, "and I guess it's something I chose, so I've no one to blame but myself! I'm just going to have to get used to everyone knowing who I am."

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