Channing Tatum's Fighting Talk

If I want to do action, you don’t really get to do it. They don’t let you, there’s too much on the line to let you jump out of a building. If I really wanted to do action, I’ll just go and do it myself! (Laughs)

- Let’s say they offered you a remake like Conan the Barbarian.

I would like to do Conan. I would love to remake that. I asked about that recently actually.

- We meet your character Shawn on the underground and he seems like such a nice guy but then he has a dark side to him right?

I think some of the scariest people I’ve met in my life have been some of the sweetest. 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.

Like if you love someone so much and they hurt you so bad, then that is as equal as to how much you can have rage for them.  I think that’s Shawn. He’s the nicest guy and he can take a lot, but once you push him up against the wall like if someone cuts him off, if someone pushes him around, he’ll be like: 'It’s fine man, whatever.'

He buries it all and then when he unleashes it, he’s not even a great fighter, he just keeps on getting up and I guarantee he’ll be the last person getting up.

- You mentioned that your father was a boxer, and there is a special relationship between a father and a son. How much did he expect from you?

I think I put more pressure on myself then he put on me, because he let me be. I always knew he was a great athlete and I just happen to be pretty good at sports so I wanted to keep doing it. It made me happy for a while, but as soon as the fun went out of sports, I stopped playing. I don’t even watch football anymore.

I played for ten years of my life and I don’t even watch it. It’s really strange. I don’t want any sports anymore, except fighting which is the only sport I really watch whether if it’s boxing or UFC.  I don’t know why.

I think maybe it’s an aspiration I didn’t get the chance to explore more, but I don’t think my father expected anything from me, I think it’s more what I put on myself.

- You went to military school right?

No, I didn’t go to military school; I don’t know why that rumour is out there? It’s not true. There was a point in my life where I had the choice to go to military school or private school, because I was in public and I was going crazy and I got the opportunity to play football so I went to private school.

- So was your father disappointed that you went into acting?

No, they were not disappointed at all. My parents let me find my way and that’s how they supported me the entire way. I moved to Miami just to move, because I wanted to get out of Tampa (Florida) and then someone spotted me on the street for modeling, now that was the weird thing! They were just like: 'Somebody saw you what?? You want to do what now?' That’s what they really didn’t get, but they were okay.

- Were you spotted on the street in the typical Hollywood cliché fashion?

Yes, I swear to God. But the guy was really shady, let me tell ya. He was like: 'Do you have representation?' And I’m like: 'For what?' But it opened the door for possibilities.

- So what made you go with him?

I didn’t go with him. I actually hung out with him for about a minute so he could explain what he was talking about. But then I went to the company he was talking about direct.  That (modeling) went on for two and a half years and took me around the world. 

I won the lottery. It doesn’t work like that for most people. But now I want a career and the thing is you really have to love acting. I didn’t just fall into it and it wasn’t just something I was good at. I’ve had to really work at this. I’ve had to fall on my face time and time again. You get ‘no’ 99 per cent of the time and a ‘yes’ just once.

- Can you talk about Zulay and the relationship you have with her in the movie?

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 firsthand.  It is a thousand times harder for women, because there are less roles and I respect her so much that she has been able to keep her head and keep her integrity, and she hasn’t sold out and done any kind of movie.  I think this movie showcases her real talent.

- Have you ever had a relative of someone you dated interact like you see the grandmother in this movie?

Every single one of my aunts and uncles I’ve got a big ranch in Alabama I never know what’s going to happen every time I visit!

- What about someone you’ve dated and their family?

Absolutely. I dated this Cuban girl in Tampa. Her whole family didn’t speak good English, but their grandmother, Mima, she would drink.  She would be like: 'Chan come Chan. Really old lady, and as cute as can be'. She would say (in Spanish) 'Take care of the girl.' And I would have to sit there for twenty minutes and tell her how much I loved her daughter.  It was hilarious.

- Does it make it easier dating an actress (Jenna Dewan, his co-star in Step Up) because she understands the business you’re engaged - right?

I’m very happy in my life, and it’s something I don’t feel comfortable talking about.  But I’m about as happy as it gets.

- Is it true you were a construction worker one time in your life and you actually planned to keep doing that for the next ten years?

Well, I went into it. I didn’t do it for that long, because the ones and zeros didn’t add up to me.  I love working with my hands and stuff and I got there the first day, and I realise they were only going to pay me $7.45 an hour and I didn’t have any other options for that moment, so I did that for like three months or so. 

Then I looked at the next guy who had been doing it for like 15, 20 years and whose now up to like $25 an hour and I thought: 'Man, it’s a long way to go to make not that much money and I need to really love this.' 

And I was doing all the work. I was doing all the labour and they were doing all the paper work. So one of my buddies told me they were paying ten dollars an hour to stand there spraying people with cologne in an air conditioned mall. I was like: 'What am I doing?' And that was it.

- How real is that whole underground fighting world?

It’s very real. 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 is a lot of underground type of fighting going on and some of it is not safe, it’s pretty brutal.  But it’s absolutely fascinating.

- This is the second film you’ve made with Dito Montiel, what is it about the relationship between director/writer and actor?

I think maybe we hear or see the world in the same way. His writing fits in my mouth very well.  He writes how I talk. It’s such a relief to have someone who has a BS meter way up here and makes you not watch yourself. 

Because if you’re with someone you don’t exactly trust then you have to watch yourself and that’s the hardest thing for an actor not to do, and not listen to yourself as you’re talking.

- You’ve successfully made the transition from model to actor have your good looks been a hindrance for nailing some roles?

I think it’s been more of a help than a hindrance so far.  But there have been a few parts.

- Like do they tell you - you are too good-looking for this part?

(Laughs) They tell you: 'You’re not exactly the right type; we are looking for something else'. I don’t ever get the great looking lawyer roles because I’ve got a thick neck from playing football. There have been a few roles where they’ve specifically said they do not want any ex-models. 

But trust me; I’m not sitting here going: 'Woe is me.' I’ve got great genetics from parents, and I’m not moaning that I have such a hard life. Trust me; it’s worked out so much more in the positive then the negative.

I guess it can be a hindrance with anything you do. You can be the best football player on the planet and it could be a hindrance in some way in your life.

- You said you couldn’t do action scenes because of insurance reasons. Did you do much stunt work in Fighting?

Yeah, in Fighting 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. In my mind I could probably do that better than the stunt.

- Why is Shawn so in love with Zulay? Is it because of her looks?

No, I think it starts with:'Wow, she’s really beautiful,' and there’s just something there that’s interesting and intriguing. When you have kindred souls, when you feel some sort of connection with the way they hold themselves, and the way they interact with people.

I know that everyone I’ve ever loved in my life I’ve had something in common with the way I negotiate the world. I think he sees her loneliness. It’s like seeing someone in a crowd and they just feel like the loneliest person in the world.

That type of thing drew us together and she had a kid and grandmother and I think that just meant family to Shawn, and he wanted that more.

Fighting is out now on DVD

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