What Was Channing Tatum’s Stripper Name?
Channing Tatum is a prime example of the often complicated road many actors take to stardom. He was just a working-class guy in Florida before famously spending some time as a stripper. He eventually made his way to Hollywood, became a leading man, and used his experience to help create the Magic Mike franchise.
Channing Tatum has an interesting backstory
Tatum’s first role as one of the dancers in Ricky Martin’s video for “She Bangs.” After finding more work in commercials and as a model, he made his film debut in She’s The Man in 2006. The same year, he made his mainstream breakthrough in Step Up.
The initial reaction to his emergence was to put Tatum in mediocre action movies, forgettable romantic comedies, and a misery-inducing blockbuster. He eventually found his lane in more comedic roles that used his traditionally masculine physicality as part of the joke. His role in 21 and 22 Jump Street did well at the box office and showcased him as a clever comedic talent.
But Tatum revealed more shades of his acting ability in the four movies he’s made with Steven Soderbergh. He’s also made movies with Quentin Tarantino and the Coen brothers. Not all the films are successful, but they show Tatum’s willingness to experiment with his career and make brave decisions. He’s likely come much farther than those who knew him as a stripper expected.
Channing Tatum didn’t go by ‘Magic Mike’ as a stripper
After dropping out of college, Tatum worked odd jobs, like dancing at a club in Tampa. He attempted to keep his past under wraps when he began modeling and acting. But a tape of Tatum performing under his stripper name “Chan Crawford” was leaked to the media in 2009.
Once it was out in the open, Tatum spoke about the experience with nuance and none of the shame that many onlookers expected. He then turned that into a money-making franchise.
But two of his former colleagues in the club voiced their problems with the events portrayed in Magic Mike. Thomas “Awesome” Austin and London Steele went to TMZ to tell the world that Tatum used their stories for the movie without crediting them. But the actor denied the plagiarism accusations at a press conference.
“Those guys have been trying to make money off of me since I got into this business,” Tatum told the media. “I don’t want to say anything bad about them because they are part of the reason I think their world is so interesting. They are very interesting, intriguing, bizarre characters, and I’m thankful for weird people out there, I guess.”
He accused Steele of being the one who leaked the original stripper video in the first place. “Literally, London was one of the guys that sold the video,” Tatum asserted. “Thank God that my friend here [Soderbergh] saw it and we made a movie from it.”
The ‘Magic Mike’ franchise is beloved
The controversy quickly died down. And Tatum and Magic Mike became household names. The first film made $167 million on a $7 million budget. It also made viewers see male strippers as more than an object of broad comedy.
The sequel, Magic Mike XXL, followed in 2015. Without Soderbergh behind the camera, the movie received lesser reviews. But it was still an entertaining movie that made a lot of money ($122 million on a $14.5 million budget.)
Tatum initially seemed uninterested in making a third movie. But he surprised fans by announcing Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Soderbergh will once again direct the film, headed to HBO Max.
