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Channing Tatum: ‘I know I’m not the best actor’

Channing Tatum, known for starring in both testosterone-soaked thrillers and schmaltzy romantic fare, admits that he is “not the best actor.”

Tatum explains in the new issue of Details that this is exactly why he’s taken on often-maligned roles — to learn more about acting.

“You gotta do the ‘Dear Johns.’ You gotta do ‘The Vow’ … I’m conscious about why I did those parts,” says Tatum. “I wanted to learn from Rachel [McAdams] on ‘The Vow.’ I wanted to learn from Lasse Hallström on ‘Dear John’ — he did ‘The Cider House Rules’ and ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.’ I didn’t go to acting school, so my knowledge of story, filmmaking, and character comes from just being on set and doing it.”

He continues, “I know I’m not the best actor. But I hope my characters are getting better.”

Tatum stars next in “Magic Mike,” director Steven Soderbergh’s buzzy film which takes place at a male strip club. The film is based on Tatum’s own experience working as a stripper when he was 18 and the concept for the film originated with his production company. Soderbergh heard about the project after working with Tatum on a small role in “Haywire,” asking out of curiosity what projects he was kicking around.

“I knew he had a production company and was starting to develop things,” explains Soderbergh. “[‘Magic Mike’ was] one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard.”

After another director fell through, Tatum reached out to Soderbergh about the idea. Soderbergh remembers, “He goes, ‘Look, it’s an open assignment now, we don’t have a director. Do you still want it? Do you still think this is a good idea?’ I said, ‘Not only do I think it’s a good idea, but we’ve gotta do it right now, so let’s go. Let’s start, today.'”

Tatum tells Details that working on the film has been a transformative experience for him.

“I really don’t want to be in any more movies that I don’t produce,” he says. “Unless it’s with one of the 10 directors that I really want to work with, I don’t have any interest in not being on the ground floor of creating it.”