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Channing who?
Yes, Channing is his first name, and Tatum is his last. And, no, he is
not in any way related to Carol Channing (or Tatum O’Neal). And,
Channing Tatum is his birth name, not just some wild name thought up in
a duplicitous publicist’s office.
You may not have known his name, but now that you do, it will be hard to
forget – the boy’s face and body has graced the pages of virtually every
glossy magazine in the world, (Nautica, Aeropostale, Dolce & Gabbana and
A&F ad campaigns), and on television in one of Mountain Dew’s most
popular commercials, “Drive” – now that he is co-starring with Samuel L.
Jackson and Ashanti in January’s best movie, “Coach Carter,” (opening
January 14th).
It’s quite unusual for male print and television models to make the
transition to the big screen, and even more surprising when they can
actually, well, um, ‘act.’
Standing at six feet, one inch tall, the (almost) shaved headed,
twenty-four year old, with the most well-defined jaw my I have ever
seen, greets me with an outstretched hand, clenching mine firmly,
staring directly into my eyes. “How are you? Channing Tatum,” he says,
as polite as he can be, upon entering the suite in which we share a
breakfast on a recent Sunday morning at the Drake Hotel, during the
hustling and bustling Christmas shopping season in the Big Apple. You
see, Channing is not a native New Yorker, nor Los Angelino. He is, what
many, including him, would describe as ‘white trash.’ |
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“Yeah, I am
white trash, by blood,” he says, his piercing blue eyes, glowing, trying
to convey with his looks and charisma that the trash is long gone. “I
was born in Alabama, raised in the summers by my grandparents, Nana and
Papa, in Mississippi and then my parents decided to move to Mississippi
to be closer to my grandparents. I was definitely an outdoors type of
boy, getting into trouble all the time. But my Nana would always say to
me, ‘Oh, Channing,’ when she knew I was feeding her a line of bullshit.”
And what were those lines of bullshit? Well, for starters, he was not
supposed to be playing in the bayous. “There were (and still are)
alligators, rattlesnakes, and Jesus knows what else in those swamps,” he
laughs. “And I was the one who was always spending as much time as I
possibly could down by the bayous, against the advice and, dare I say,
orders of my Nana.”
Channing Tatum has come a long way from the bayous. He might still be
weathered and tanned, i.e., beautiful, ‘fuck-me,’ white trash, but the
evolutionary process has taken hold. He has, it seems, become more
civilized during the plethora ad campaigns in which he has appeared,
clothed, (sadly), – in the latest, most popular U.S. fashions, groomed
and to die for.
“I love modeling,” he chimes, sipping a bottle of Evian, and then
picking at a fruit plate, (slices of watermelon, pineapple, honeydew,
cantaloupe, and strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and grapes.)
“But, I ‘loved’ making my first movie. I did an episode of ‘CSI,’ [the
original], this season, (September) – I shot it after the movie – but
the movie was the fucking bomb. I can see myself, at least part of the
time, acting. I love modeling but acting is a great distraction.”
As rumors abounded in the late 90s and early 00s, A&F solicited models
on the street and didn’t pay them. According to the rumor mill, A&F used
their models as slave laborers. The models got free ink and A&F got hot,
young, tight-assed boys. “That’s a crock of shit,” says Channing, when I
ask him how he got involved with A&F. “I have an agent and my agent got
me that contract. Contrary to what the urban legend is, lots of the
queens in AOL chat rooms, A&F pays their models, they are not solicited
in malls or in parking lots. They leave that to the government,” he
chuckles, referring to a scene in “Fahrenheit 9/11,” proving he is not a
vapid model, cum actor.
“I know that modeling is not going to last forever, so I need to find
something else that will keep me busy for the next forty years,” he
explains, in all sincerity.
“’Coach Carter’ was such a fucking godsend,” he says. “I never, in a
million years, expected to be cast in an MTV/Paramount collaboration. I
mean, they are the partners behind ‘Save The Last Dance’ (which grossed
over $100 million US), and that catapulted Julia Stiles to fame.”
Is Channing Tatum destined to multiplex, name recognition status? You
will be the judge. Do you think he is hot enough to plop $10 down for
one hour and forty-five minutes worth of pleasure on the big screen?
I am not one to be bribed. If I didn’t think “Coach Carter” was worth
the price of admission, I would be the first to omit my praise for the
movie in my “Channing Tatum Feature.” I mean, it would be that easy. I
wouldn’t have to say I liked it, or I hated it.
The truth is, even if one removed Channing Tatum from “Coach Carter,”
the movie would be a crowd pleaser, unlike anything since “Hoosiers,”
“Lean On Me,” and “Remember The Titans.”
He just adds to the fabulosity of the film.
I have no ties to Hollywood. They don’t pay my salary. So, I can
truthfully say, “Coach Carter,” is the Best Movie about redemption, and
humanity that I have seen in a decade. The only movie that rivals this,
for soundtrack, script, acting and directing, is “Lean On Me.” And that
movie was released in 1989. Sixteen years ago. This, “Coach Carter,” and
Channing Tatum, (along with Samuel L. Jackson and Ashanti), is the best
human spirit movie in more than a decade. |
