Channing Tatum

After starting out as a model and music video dancer, actor Channing Tatum shot to stardom as the star of "Step Up" (2006), a classic high school romance set in the world of competitive dance that gave the unknown Tatum a chance to prove that he had more to offer. From there, Tatum enjoyed another teen success with "She's the Man" (2006), before unveiling surprising acting chops in the acclaimed coming-of-age drama, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" (2006). He went on to a prominent role in the war drama "Stop-Loss" (2008), and big budgeters "Public Enemies" (2009) and "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" (2009), before wooing the ladies with a romantic lead in the adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, "Dear John" (2010).

The busy actor began landing bigger and better roles, starring in the Roman-era drama "The Eagle" (2011), appearing alongside Al Pacino in "The Son of No One" (2011), and joining a top-notch cast for Steven Soderbergh's gritty action thriller "Haywire" (2011). By the time he starred in another Sparks adaptation, "The Vow" (2012), and the highly successful action comedy "21 Jump Street" (2012), Tatum had carved out a promising career playing physical characters with a believably sensitive bent. After Soderbergh's "Magic Mike" (2012) -- based in part on Tatum's own experiences as a male stripper -- made him an international superstar, Tatum moved easily between light comedy and action roles and more intense performances in films such as quirky character study "Foxcatcher" (2014) and Quentin Tarantino's violent western "The Hateful Eight" (2015).

Channing Tatum was born to father, Glenn, and mother, Kay, on April 26, 1980, in the small Alabama town of Cullman and spent his teenage years in Tampa, FL, where his high profile in football, baseball, track and martial arts earned him the distinction of Most Athletic at Tampa Catholic High School. But he also frequently found himself on the wrong side of that school's administration's rule and spent time working on his discipline problems. Tatum turned down a football scholarship to a West Virginia state college and was living in Miami when was approached on the street by a talent agent. At the agent's urging, Tatum began print modeling, eventually finding himself traveling the world and representing the lines of Armani and Abercrombie and Fitch. The young talent segued onto the screen in commercials for Mountain Dew and Pepsi and landed his first acting role in a 2004 episode of "CSI: Miami" (CBS, 2002-12).

His whirlwind career and exposure to new horizons beyond the American South ignited a number of creative passions in Tatum including dancing, writing and acting, which he decided to pursue fulltime. His physique immediately landed him supporting roles in competitive sports films including "Coach Carter" (2005), starring Samuel L. Jackson, and the low budget "Supercross" (2005). Following a supporting role in the upper-class-teens-emulate-inner-city-gangsters flick "Havoc" (2005), which received most of its notice for star Anne Hathaway's nude scenes, Tatum auditioned for the role of mutant hero Gambit in "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006). The character was eventually dropped from the script, but the film's producer Lauren Shuler-Donner saw Tatum's star potential and cast him as the dim-witted romantic lead opposite Amanda Bynes in the sitcom-like "She's the Man" (2006).

That hunky supporting role did not jettison Tatum to stardom, but that happened with his follow-up leading role as the streetwise hip-hop dancer partnered with a ballerina-in-training (Jenna Dewan) in "Step Up" (2006). Despite largely negative reviews, the high school-set romance was a hit with teen audiences, thanks in part to a substantial and sexy advertising campaign and the stars' guest appearance on the Fox talent contest, "So You Think You Can Dance" (2005- ). Word that the onscreen stars had become an off-screen item further fueled romantic fairy tale visions of the new pin-up king. Happily together for over three years, Tatum and Dewan would wed in Malibu on July 11, 2009. (The couple announced their separation in April 2018.)

In a surprising turn of events following his success in formulaic teen fare, Tatum gave a powerful performance as the leader of a tough group of New York teens who is beaten at home and takes his aggression to the streets in "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" (2006). The coming-of-age drama indie based on the youth of first-time filmmaker Dito Montiel earned the Director's Prize and a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for the entire cast, as well as an Independent Spirit Award Best Supporting Actor nomination for Tatum. He again brought a depth to an alpha male type with his role as an Iraq war veteran emotionally uprooted and trying to return to civilian life in Kimberly Peirce's affecting "Stop-Loss" (2008). However, audiences avoided the film as they had the slew of other Iraq war films released that year.

Tatum teamed up again with filmmaker Montiel in 2009's "Fighting" (2009), a fable-like tale of an Alabaman trying to get by on the streets of New York City who unwittingly ends up on the underground fighting circuit. Tatum received raves for his performance in the markedly realistic portrayal of life at the edges of society. He appeared in two more testosterone-charged films that year. The first was a supporting role alongside Johnny Depp's portrayal of famed Chicago gangster John Dillinger in "Public Enemies" (2009). His dashing and tough turn as Pretty Boy Floyd led to his leading role opposite Dennis Quaid as big screen incarnations of the classic action figures, "G.I. Joe" (2009). In 2010 Tatum returned to screens as another conflicted soldier in "Dear John," a Lasse Hallstrom-directed adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel exploring love after loss, and followed that with a supporting turn in the much-derided comedy "The Dilemma" (2011). Tatum had a busy year in 2011, playing a Roman soldier who embarks on a dangerous mission to recover a golden emblem in "The Eagle," and starred opposite MMA fighter Gina Carano in Steven Soderbergh's action thriller "Haywire." After appearing opposite Al Pacino in "The Son of No One" (2011), Tatum pleased his female fans with another starring turn in a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, "The Vow" (2012). Also that year, he was a cop who returns to high school with a fellow officer (Jonah Hill) to pose as students in order to take down a drug ring in "21 Jump Street" (2012).

After that surprise blockbuster success, Tatum starred in the comedy-drama "Magic Mike" (2012), based in part of his own past as a part-time stripper, which confirmed his status as a heartthrob to millions. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who worked with Tatum again on the psychological thriller "Side Effects" (2013). After returning to his pre-stardom franchise with "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" (2013) and a brief cameo in Seth Rogen's post-apocalyptic comedy "This Is The End" (2013), Tatum starred opposite Jamie Foxx in the thriller "White House Down" (2013) and Steve Carell in biographical drama "Foxcatcher" (2014). Along with reuniting with Rogen for "22 Jump Street" (2014), Tatum branched into voice work with a role as Superman in "The Lego Movie" (2014) and its sequel "The Lego Batman Movie" (2017).

After starring opposite Mila Kunis in the space opera "Jupiter Ascending" (2015), Tatum returned to his breakthrough role in the road trip comedy "Magic Mike XXL" (2015) and worked with Quentin Tarantino on the dark western "The Hateful Eight" (2015). A role in the Coen Brothers' Golden Age of Hollywood ensemble satire "Hail, Caesar!" (2016) followed, as well as a reunion with Soderbergh for the heist caper "Logan Lucky" (2017). Tatum next appeared in a supporting role in action sequel "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" (2017) before appearing in and executive producing the oddball comedy "Comrade Detective" (Amazon 2017- ), presented as an English-language dub of an Eastern European police detective series from the Cold War era. His next big screen projects were voice roles in the animated Yeti comedy "Smallfoot" (2018) and comedy sequel "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part" (2019).