Click here to subscribe today or Login.
When production began on “Magic Mike” three years ago, Channing Tatum never imagined the male-stripper movie would hit so big at the box-office.
“We had no idea that the first one would do what it did,” said the actor, whose real-life experiences as an exotic dancer inspired the action. “We made it for so little money. We were just making this little independent movie and we won the lottery somehow.”
Indeed, Tatum and company hit the jackpot with the offbeat drama. Produced for a measly $7 million, “Magic Mike” wound up grossing more than $165 million worldwide.
That said, Tatum insists it was friendship not money which prompted most of the cast, including Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello, to reteam for the sequel “Magic Mike XXL.”
“[Our camaraderie] was the reason to do the second one,” said Tatum, 35. “We didn’t need to write anything; we just needed to turn the cameras on.
“I know a lot of [actors] say, `We just love each other and love hanging out.’ But I haven’t been on a movie where people would show up on their days off just to watch and support their friends. That doesn’t happen on a lot of movies. But it did here.”
Bomer seconds that emotion. “You get a group of people in a room and let them play and get to know each other and sometimes magic comes out of that,” he said.
“That’s what happened on the first movie. We all just made friends that we’ll have for the rest of our lives… I think that comes through [onscreen]. I think it’s the scandal that gets you in the door but the humanity of these characters that you actually end up falling in love with.”
Set three years after the events depicted in “Magic Mike,” the sequel is a more light-hearted look at the world of the bump and grind. The plot involves the guys (Tatum, Bomer, Manganiello, Kevin Nash, newbie Stephen “tWitch” Boss) hitting the road to a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and meeting lots of new and interesting folks along the way, including characters played by Jada Pinkett Smith, Amber Heard and Andie MacDowell.
The original “Magic Mike” was directed by Steven Soderbergh and the sequel is directed by Soderbergh’s longtime assistant Gregory Jacobs (“Wind Chill”). Soderbergh stayed on as “XXL’s” producer and cinematographer.
“This movie wouldn’t have been made without Greg,” Tatum said. “There’s no one else that we could have done the film with. Truly. Soderbergh had retired and the torch wasn’t going anywhere until Greg picked it up.”
While Matthew McConaughey opted not to reprise his role as a club owner in the sequel, “XXL” makes up for his absence by unreeling a handful of additional dance numbers.
Tatum downplays the amount of time it took him to look good enough to strut his stuff onscreen.
“We had a big CGI budget; that’s my face on tWitch’s body,” teases the actor.
“Actually, we had a good amount of time on this one [to prepare]. It was a little bit of an oversight on the last one that we couldn’t fit in all the dance routines so we kind of designed how we were dancing better in this movie so we could show them all.”
Tatum takes credit for being the one who insisted that the dance routines push the envelope of sexiness.
“Once you see one person going onstage and taking their clothes off, the next one can’t be just the same thing,” said the actor, who was voted People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.
“I just wanted to rock it. The first [movie] was kind of tethered to reality but the real world of male strippers isn’t all that interesting.
“I was, like, `If we’re going to do another one, let’s go all out’ I didn’t want to ever do a fireman routine on any stage ever again. I think all the guys brought their own thing to it. Everyone. It was fun to craft what they were all interested in doing.”
In “XXL,” many of the cast members got the chance to shine. It was Manganiello, for instance, who revealed to Tatum and Jacobs that Bomer had a great voice and deserved a big musical number in the film.
“Matt is such a humble guy that I feel like sometimes I’m Matt’s agent, or I’m Matt’s color man, letting people know Matt can sing,” said Manganiello, 38. “I remember…talking to Channing and Steven and saying, ‘You gotta make Matt sing.’ So I’m so happy that the world will finally know. “
Bomer and Manganiello are old college pals who attended Carnegie Mellon together in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating in 2000.
“I’ve known Matt since he was 18 and we did come up through drama school together,” Manganiello said.
“We’ve done Chekhov and Shakespeare and Ibsen and all of that,” he said. “Now, at this moment in our careers where Scene 1, Take 1, it’s `Joe, you’re going to get naked and cannonball Channing [Tatum] into a pool.’ So that education really paid off.”
For his part, Bomer relished the scene of Manganiello performing a sexy dance routine at a gas station convenience store.
“Seeing the mini-mart scene with Joe, seeing the culmination of all those years just come to fruition in that moment, to me, was so mind-blowing and epic,” said Bomer, 37. “I literally just stood behind the camera, just wanting popcorn … with my jaw on the ground, just thanking God.”
During another even more athletic dance number, Manganiello ripped his bicep. Rather than quit the routine, the actor kept going until he was finished for the day.
“Usually, bicep snaps roll up into your shoulder and the arm turns black and caves in,” Manganiello said. “But that didn’t happen so we thought it was a dislocated bone in my arm.
“This masseuse was trying to work this bone back into my arm and… Channing was, like, ‘I’ll move my routine up.’ But there was no way to do that. I said, `I’m not gonna make it tomorrow. Tomorrow my arm’s not gonna move. We gotta do it now.’”
Adds Tatum, “It was right out of `Rocky.’ I was, like, ‘I’ll go on, man.’ And he was all, ‘No, I got it! Just pop it back in. I can do it.’”
After Manganiello wrapped for the day, he was congratulated by everyone on set. But his fiancé, actress Sofia Vergara, gave him a good scolding.
“We made it through and everyone was patting me on the back, “Bro that was amazing!,’ “ recalls the actor. “Sofia was there that day and she looked at me and said, “If I see you at that gym tomorrow, we’re done. I’m going to leave you. You have to go to a doctor.’ And I did. ”
“And he hasn’t been back to the gym since,” joked Tatum.