Channing Tatum shows off some serious dance moves in the upcoming Magic Mike — and his fancy footwork came as no surprise to co-star Joe Manganiello.
“Channing has a headstart on all of us,” the 35-year-old told Celebuzz at the film’s Los Angeles Film Festival premiere on Sunday. “[He’s] on another level. Channing’s in a dancing movie. The rest of us are in a dry humping movie.”
That headstart includes the years Tatum spent performing as a stripper while he was in his late teens; the film, in theaters on June 29, is loosely based on his skin-baring past.
There have, however, been some who dispute the flick’s inspiration.
Last week, Thomas “Awesome” Austin and London Steele, two strippers who previously worked with Tatum, claimed that the actor used stories from their past for Magic Mike and not his own. That’s not all: the two said Tatum also stole their signature moves and the name “Magic Mike.” Tatum not only stars in the film but also serves as one of its producers.
But at the film’s junket, 32-year-old Tatum assured reporters:
“Look, there’s nothing that’s factual in this whole movie other than I was an 18-year-old kid, went into this world, dropped out of college, played football and was living on my sister’s couch. There’s not one character that I took from my real life. This is just the world that I went into and that I had a perspective on. We created everything from a fictional place.”
Despite the drama, one thing is for sure — Magic Mike is poised to be the summer’s hottest film. Watch the video above for more sexy secrets from Manganiello.