Channing Tatum is an actor who has put together quite a career with everything from dramatic roles like Foxcatcher to comedies like 21 Jump Street. With recent successes including playing Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine to his newest film, Roofman, and of course, his most well-known role in Magic Mike, one might think there’s little Tatum can’t do on screen, but he certainly didn’t always feel like he had the same chops other actors did.
Channing Tatum actually spoke out recently, revealing that early in his career, he didn’t have much confidence in his own abilities. This led him to have a conversation with somebody that he thought had an incredible ability to inhabit any role, Benedict Cumberbatch. Tatum told Deadline about the encounter and the "huge gift" his fellow actor gave him.
It was right around Foxcatcher, we were at a round table, and I think we went to the Oscars that year. We’re sitting literally away from everybody and kind of just having this conversation. And I was just talking to him about like, I’m like, ‘How do you do what you do, man?’
Channing Tatum felt at the time that Cumberbatch, and many other British actors, showed a level of control that he clearly felt he didn’t have onscreen. Cumberbatch did indicate that some of what Tatum saw came from real, formal training he had received. However, he also indicated that it wasn’t all that mattered when it came to acting.
Benedict really took care of me in that moment, and he’s like, ‘Yes, look, I’ve definitely trained. But you do something that I don’t think I could do.’ He didn’t really elaborate, but he really gave me a huge gift that day. Coming from him, and I’ll never forget. It was a huge gift for him to just give that kind of confidence.
Channing Tatum recently discussed turning down the lead in Blue Valentine, a role that would eventually go to Ryan Gosling. Tatum said he was simply scared at the time, and now he's admitted this other story, I feel like this may be an example of the confidence he was lacking at the time.
It’s interesting Benedict Cumberbatch apparently didn’t discuss specifically what he thought Channing Tatum could do that he couldn’t, but it didn’t really matter. The fact that somebody like Cumberbatch, whom Channing Tatum clearly respected, indicated that there was anything that Tatum could do better was enough to give him some of that confidence he was missing.
Channing Tatum was able to achieve something of a dream when he got to play Gambit on the big screen in the last Deadpool movie. He will reprise that role in Avengers: Doomsday, and while Benedict Cumberbatch’s name isn’t part of the official Doomsday cast, the actor has said he’s in the film. Maybe these two will reunite on the big screen and can have another chat about just how far both of them have come. And maybe Cumberbatch can elaborate on what he meant all those years ago.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
