Channing Tatum – 13 Best Movie Roles, Ranked

You may know Channing Tatum as the stripper "Magic" Mike. However, the Cullman, Alabama native has quite an impressive movie roster under his belt. The hunky actor came from humble beginnings. He was born in a small Alabama town of Cullman. His mother Kay, an airline worker.  His father Glenn a construction worker. Growing up, Tatum's parents signed him up to play all different sports like baseball, soccer, and football. Above all, to keep him out of trouble. In the ninth grade, he was sent to a Catholic school and there he discovered his passion for football. Tatum said "girls were always [his] biggest distraction in school" and discussed his struggles with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and dyslexia. After that, he earned an athletic college scholarship to Glenville State College in West Virginia.

Tatum stripped under the name "Chan Crawford." In 2010, he told the Sydney Morning Herald that he wanted to make a movie about his experiences as a stripper. That's the basis for the Magic Mike movies. After stripping for almost a year, Tatum moved to Miami. He was discovered by a model talent scout and modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Gap, Aeropostale, Emporio Armani. Similarly, he appeared in television commercials for American Eagle, Pepsi. Also some very popular Mountain Dew commercials, in addition to getting into the world of acting.

Tatum's first role on the big screen was as a supporting actor in 2005's Coach Carter. The following year, he had a leading role opposite Amanda Bynes in She's The Man. That same year, Tatum starred opposite his future wife Jenna Dewan in the dance/romance movie Step Up. Which was his breakout role. Since the early aughts, Tatum managed to land movie role after movie role and has made quite a successful and respected acting career nearly twenty years later.

In conclusion, see below our favorite roles that Channing Tatum has played over the course of his acting career so far:

Tatum ended up as cannibal Danny McBride's gimp in the raunchy apocalyptic movie. McBride found him wandering on the freeway and made him his bitch, renaming him "Channing Taint-yum." He plays along with McBride's crew, but when he says he loves him, you can see the fear in his eyes.

Tatum made a cameo in the film as a character by the name of Revenjamin Buttons. He is a game avatar created by gamer Keith. In his role, Tatum is not only hilarious in his dialogue with Ryan Reynolds' Blue Shirt Guy, but his "Free City itchy kitty" dance moves are iconic despite his tough-guy appearance.

Tatum plays Amanda Bynes' roommate/love interest in this 2006 rom-com as clueless Duke. In this iconic scene, Bynes' Viola is caught with tampons and plays it off by stuffing them up her nose for her "really bad nose bleeds."

Tatum's first big acting break was playing basketball player Jason Lyle in a supporting role in the 2005 classic Coach Carter alongside Samuel L. Jackson. Prior to his big break, Tatum appeared briefly in Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" music video from 2000 as a bartender!

Tatum and Adam Driver are the not-too-bright southern brothers Jimmy and Clyde Logan in this hilarious Motor Speedway heist while simultaneously breaking out a platinum-haired Daniel Craig (Joe Bang) out of prison.

Though he only makes an appearance on the bullet train, Tatum's scene with Brad Pitt's Ladybug was a hilarious one we couldn't forget. In the scene, Ladybug offers to help him make "an easy 200 bucks," which Tatum takes as some sort of a "sex thing." Completely relieved and somewhat embarrassed, he immediately accepts the offer.

Two of Hollywood's studliest actors (Tatum and Brad Pitt) come together to save Sandra Bullock's Loretta Sage. Daniel Radcliffe plays the evil eccentric billionaire, Abigail Fairfax, who kidnaps the author in search of a hidden treasure that she didn't think existed. Though the movie is hilarious, it's a charming love story between an author and her cover model.

In this star-studded thriller-drama, Tatum plays Martin, the husband of Rooney Mara's Emily Taylor. Prisoned on charges of insider trading, his wife waits four years for his release. However, once he comes home, Emily feels guilty and sinks into a deep depression that leads to a suicide attempt, which fails. When placed under a new medication by psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), it leads to ruined lives and death.

Though we don't see Tatum's Jody Domergue until the end of the movie, he is ultimately the ringleader of the Domingre Gang who is trying to set free his nasty sister, Daisy (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who has been captured by John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell). He catches Samuel L. Jackson's Major Marquis Warren off guard by hiding in the basement and shoots him directly in the nuts. That doesn't go too well for Jody, though,  as when you're dealing with a ruthless bounty hunter and sheriff who he didn't account for.

Tatum plays a character by the name of Tyler Gage, who is sentenced to community service for a prestigious performing arts school. This is the first time the world saw Tatum's incredible dance skills on the big screen in this romance film that resulted in various sequels, though Tatum was only in the first two (the only good ones).

Tatum captivated our hearts and our wallets as our favorite male stripper, "Magic" Mike Lane. For those who haven't seen any of the movies, there is more than just men gyrating in thongs -- it's also a story about love and drama. In 2023, Tatum hit the stage one final time in Magic Mike's Last Dance alongside Salma Hayek Pinault.

Sure, we love seeing Tatum play serious characters and dance his a-- off, but what really gets us excited most is when he plays the most bizarre, eccentric roles. In Hail, Caesar! he plays blonde-haired Burt Gurney, a tap-dancing musical star who is a communist sympathizer because... he likes their uniforms.

It doesn't matter how many times you watch 21 Jump Street. Every time we watch the scene where Tatum and Jonah Hill "trip major balls" at school in front of Rob Riggle, we die laughing. It is a movie that you can watch over and over again and it is still as funny as the first time.