Channing Tatum Almost Rejected ‘Magic Mike 3’ Role After Claiming Training Is ‘Unhealthy’

Channing Tatum was almost not part of the third movie saying he had to “starve himself.”

It has been 10 years since Channing Tatum led a charge that took the world by storm and that charge was ‘Magic Mike.’ A movie full of male strippers quickly turned into a box-office hit and a sequel was made in 2015. Now, the third and final film of the trilogy is in the works but Tatum revealed that he almost had to pull himself out of the film.

Tatum recently appeared on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ and was asked about the new movie. He did not hold back on his feeling of playing Mike Lane in the film because of the training to prepare for the role.

“You have to starve yourself. I don’t think when you’re that lean, it’s actually healthy for you,” Tatum explained.

Channing Tatum continued to explain how it is not as easy to lose weight now than it was when he was younger. At 41 years old, Tatum almost rejected this role but would be willing to revisit the idea way down the line.

“It’s hard even if you do work out to be in that kind of shape.”

“The only one I said I’d actually do — before we decided on this version — was the ‘Grumpy Old Men’ version when we’re like 70. When we’re 70, I want to get the team back together, for sure.”

Channing Tatum is known for his versatility as an actor. He has appeared in movies where he is asked to dance, such as the Magic Mike movies and ‘Step Up.’ Tatum has dabbled in romance in ‘Dear John’ and is also more than capable of comedy, which we saw in the Jump Street films alongside Jonah Hill. 

While an agreement was put in place to make ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance,’ this is much longer than Tatum expected the series to go on. In fact, he thought it would be a one and done film.

“In my opinion, we had chewed up all the meat on the bone, story-wise. Pun intended, I guess. They’re essentially movies about guys made for women. We didn’t plan on making a second one.”

“Then all of our ancillary characters were so good and fun that we felt like, ‘Let’s do another movie and give those characters more real estate that we didn’t have before.'”

Channing Tatum has sported a great physique in many roles and this is headlined by Magic Mike. While it is part of his career to stay in shape, it does not make it easy for some roles. There is no release date for the final Magic Mike film but we know it is in the works.

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Greg Patuto
Greg has covered the four major sports for six years and has been featured on sites such as Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, SB Nation, NJ.com, and FanSided. Now, he is transitioning into the world of bodybuilding and strength sports.