channing tatum connection
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 The Vow (2012)
21 Jump Street (2012)
Haywire (2012)
The Son of No One (2011)
Dear John (2010)
Fighting (2009)
Stop-Loss (2008)
Step Up (2006)
She's The Man (2006)
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 Do you still have childhood memories?From where my grandmother Nana and my Papa used to live. I loved my Nana and my Papa. They were my roots. Every summer my folks sent me off to the country to stay with them, hoping to keep me out of trouble. And you know grandparents are so real they don't even know how to be fake. They never bother saying what you want to hear, they just say "this is the way it is." I'd get up to something and they would just look at me and shake their heads and say: "Oh Channing..."
You said you left Alabama at an early age?
When I was six we moved to Mississippi. We lived on the bayou actually, right on the Mississippi River, and that's where a lot of my early memories come from.
What was it like?
All the rattlesnakes and alligators a boy could possibly chase, fishing every day, Pop Warner football league, stuff like that. It was one of those kinds of settings. I'm not a country bumpkin hillbilly, but I do love the outdoors, totally.
Did you play any sports in school?
I played everything — football, soccer, track, baseball. I was always pretty athletic and my dad tried to keep me busy doing marshal arts and sports so I wouldn't get into trouble.
Staying out of trouble is already a recurring theme and we haven't got past the age of nine...
(laughs) Exactly, I had a lot of energy. I was bouncing off the walls. They had to do something with me. No more than your usual kid though — running, scuffing knees, getting in fights. I wasn't into stealing cars or anything. I was just very easily distracted. If there was a cute girl on the far side of the class, I'd be flirting with her every time. Girls were always my biggest distraction in school.
When did you start doing martial arts?
When I was six. At that age I don't think I even realized what it takes. They throw these kids in a ring and they're kicking each other's brains out. It took a lot of guts. You know, "Oh God, I can't lose, Dad's watching." But even after I left Mississippi I returned every few weeks to test for another belt. I loved it, the tournaments, the fighting ...
Why?
I don't know. The focus, the determination, the adrenaline — all those very basic emotions, I just loved them. Before, I'd always been involved in team sports. But this was something I could do that was just me. It was completely up to me to be however great I wanted to be.
And it kept you out of trouble?
I was trying to, trying to stay out of trouble ... (laughs). Things got a little bit rocky for a while when I started ninth grade though, so dad sent me to a military school. They had a good football team so I was fine with it, and it really did straighten up my act. I got with this really good girl that helped me a lot with school and with trying to be good ... (both of us are laughing as the sentence peters out)
What was your goal as you approached graduation?
From the start it was always football. That's all I worked for. From the time of my very first year playing football in the Police Athletic leagues, that's all I wanted to do, play ball. The only reason I wanted to graduate high school was to get a scholarship and play football.
Why did you love it so much?
Probably because my dad played college ball. It was a 'following in my dad's footsteps' sort of thing. It was one of the ways we related to each other. We'd butt heads now and then, but as soon as football season came around, we'd be back on track. That would always be our thing to keep us sane and together.
You won an athletic scholarship?
Yes. To a school in West Virginia, but I found out it wasn't what I wanted. There was no fun in it. Football at that level can still be fun and all, but it's a job. You're working all the time to keep that scholarship. You're working, doing two-a-days, three-a- days.
What's that, a two-a-day?
It means two football practices a day. A typical day is you wake up at 6am and you've got to be on the field by 7:30 am. You practice for three hours, then you have football study groups in a classroom for an hour, then you hit the weight room, then you have lunch, then you have another 3 hour practice, then you have school one more time at night, and then you're allowed to sleep for six hours. But all the work wasn't the bad thing, it just wasn't fun any more.
Sounds like the coach didn't inspire you.
Not at all. The coach that recruited me left before I got there, so I got stuck with a coach that had nothing invested. There was no bond at all. The other thing that was different was that I couldn't really play for my parents anymore because it was too far for them to drive up to the games. Anyway, I wasn't happy, and when I get unhappy I start fighting, and I ended up getting into a lot of fights. So I decided just to hang it up. It was definitely not what I wanted to do for the next four years.
That must have been a low point for you?
Absolutely, because I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I went back home.
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