ELLE meet film stars Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey to talk about their thrilling new film.
If you watch the trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s new film, Magic Mike, you may be led to thinking that this is a lighthearted Rom-Com. But fluffy acting and flimsy g-strings this is not (well, the g-strings might be a little flimsy, but that’s completely integral to the plot). Soderbergh is back to his Sex, Lies and Videotape best, with genuine performances creating a compelling film that exposes the life of male strippers and all the casual sex benefits and darker pitfalls that go with it.
Channing Tatum plays Mike, the titular character, who works at Xquisite – a club run by fellow stripper Dallas (Matthew McConaughey) – and takes youngster Adam (Alex Pettyfer) under his stripper-by-night wing.
ELLE meets Channing and Matthew at a London Hotel to talk about their involvement in the film.
Channing, you’ve had a bit of personal experience being a stripper. Was it just like riding a bike to get back into?
Channing: Walking out in front of 300 people basically butt naked is never like riding a bike. It never gets comfortable and there’s a bit of insecurity. But I probably felt a little more secure than some of the other guys having done this before.
What about you Matthew?
Matthew: I had never done anything like it and it was very intimidating. [The fact that] it was scary was part of the reason I was like ‘I have got to give this a shot. I’m not going to do this in real life!’
For the role you had to wax your bodies – how was that?
Channing: I filmed mine. My buddy did this whole thing – do you know that part in Braveheart when he’s having his intestines ripped out and stuff? [My friend] is like ‘Just kiss the hand and you shall suffer no more’. You could hear the follicles pulling out.
Matthew: And it’s all business to the woman that’s doing it.
Is it a routine you would maintain?
Channing: I would never do it again. The only thing I would consider it for would be Magic Mike 2.
Is a sequel a possibility?
Channing: We’re cooking up ideas, but I want to try and figure something out that’s really clever or we won’t do it.
If acting hadn’t taken off for you, would you still be a stripper?
Matthew: That’s the sequel!
Channing: [laughs] I think I quit for a reason. It wasn’t fulfilling.
Does the film give an accurate insight into the stripping world?
Matthew: This does show [stripping as] a moonlighting job for a lot of guys, and a lot of the guys we met in real life have day jobs and family lives.
Channing: I personally don’t recommend it, especially for young kids. It can lead to a slippery slope and although I wouldn’t trade it for the world, if someone said ‘would you recommend this for your son?’ I wouldn’t.
Magic Mike opens in cinemas today.
