All hail Magic Mike
himself, Alabama native Channing “The Chan-Chan Man” Tatum.
Tatum was born and raised in Cullman, Alabama, the son of
Kay (née Faust), an airline worker, and Glenn Tatum, who worked in
construction. He has a sister
Paige. His ancestry includes English,
Irish, French, German, and Native American.
Tatum's family moved to Mississippi when he was six, and he grew up in
the bayous near the Mississippi River, where he lived in a rural setting.
Tatum was athletic while growing up, playing football,
soccer, track, baseball, and performing martial arts; he has said that
"girls were always [his] biggest distraction in school." (Who could have guessed?) As a child, he practiced wuzuquan kung fu
under the lineage of Chee Kim Thong, and spent most of his teenage years in the
Tampa, Florida, area, and initially attended Gaither High School, before he was
given the option by his parents of either selecting a private high school or
attending a military school; he chose Tampa Catholic High School, where he
graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic.
Afterward, Tatum attended Glenville State College in Glenville, West
Virginia, on a football scholarship, but dropped out. He returned home and started working odd
jobs.
US Weekly reported
that around this time Tatum left his job as a roofer and began working as a
stripper at a local nightclub, under the name "Chan Crawford." In 2010, he told an Australian newspaper that
he wanted to make a movie about his experiences as a stripper, which led to the
movie Magic Mike. He later moved to Miami, where he was
discovered by a model talent scout.
In 2000, Tatum was first cast as a dancer in Ricky Martin's She Bangs music video, after an audition
in Orlando, Florida; he was paid $400 for the job. He soon moved into television commercials,
landing national spots for Mountain Dew and Pepsi in 2002. He subsequently signed with a modeling
agencies in Miami, but later found success after being cast by Al David for
Vogue magazine and soon after appeared in campaigns for Abercrombie &
Fitch, Nautica, Dolce & Gabbana, American Eagle Outfitters, and Emporio
Armani. He was picked as one of the Tear Sheet "50 Most Beautiful
Faces" of October 2001. Tatum also
signed with Beatrice Model agency in Milan, Italy and Ford Models in New York
City.
Tatum has said that his modeling career has helped him with
his life, specifying that "It's made my life, and my family's life, a lot
easier, because I never knew what I wanted to do and now they don't really have
to worry about me anymore. I've been
able to explore life, and through exploring it I've found that I love art, I
love writing, I love acting, I love all the things that make sense to me. And I've been given the chance to go out and
see the world, and to see all the things out there. Not everyone gets that chance.”
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