Channing Tatum on Jump Street 3 and His R-Rated ‘Gambit’

Channing Tatum knows a thing or two about patience, especially when it comes to construction. 

“Renovations, man,” he says, shaking his head. “I’ve been renovating my house for almost two and a half years now. It’s just been a nightmare.” 

The actor hoots about lawsuits and lost money, but beneath the frustration, there’s a telling throughline — endurance. The same dogged persistence that got him through a grueling house remodel defines his work in “Roofman,” a film inspired by the real-life story of Jeffrey Manchester, a man who robbed multiple McDonald’s restaurants, and when arrested, repeatedly escaped prison and found refuge in a Toys “R” Us.

I share with Tatum that my first job was at McDonald’s when I was 16, making $5.15 an hour — minimum wage at the time. Almost a decade later, around the time the events of “Roofman” take place, I was working at a Toys “R” Us in New Jersey as a human resources supervisor (the film’s events take place in North Carolina). I was responsible for hiring during the holiday season when the company earned 80% to 90% of its annual revenue. In one scene, Tatum’s co-star Peter Dinklage, who plays the store manager, even mentions that same statistic. Part of my job back then was to let nearly all of those temporary hires go on New Year’s Eve, roughly 95% to 99% of them.

The irony isn’t lost on Tatum. The man who once sold cologne at Macy’s, worked fast food, and stripped in Florida nightclubs now plays a fugitive who turns a retail space into both his prison and his playground. “What a dark side of Toys “R” Us I didn’t know existed!” he laughs, before pausing with a grin. “It’s the kind of story that feels absurd and human at the same time. That’s what Derek [Cianfrance] does best. He finds the heart in the chaos.”

The performance is among Tatum’s finest, the culmination of a career that has quietly built toward this moment. From his breakout in “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” to his raw work in “Foxcatcher,” Tatum has long balanced movie-star charisma with bruised, soulful intensity. In “Roofman,” he brings that duality to its most vulnerable point yet. It could get him a Golden Globe nom, and perhaps make him a dark horse for some Oscar attention if it strikes the right chords.

“He did bad things,” Tatum acknowledges. “But he’s not evil. He’s funny, charming, delusional, and he survived solitary confinement for nearly a decade. That does something to a person.” 

Tatum still hasn’t met the real Manchester, who remains incarcerated in North Carolina, but he plans to meet him. “He said something that stuck with me: ‘When I’m Happy Jeff, everything’s great. But when they break the deal, when they don’t give me what I’m supposed to have, Bad Jeff shows up.’ That’s a simple truth. We all have a Bad Jeff somewhere inside us.” 

Working with Cianfrance, who co-wrote the script with Kirt Gunn, proved to be one of the most immersive experiences of his career. “Derek is probably the most performance-loving director I’ve ever worked with,” Tatum says. “He thinks of the character first, and then builds the world around them from the inside out.” 

Cianfrance’s process was demanding, unorthodox, but always enjoyable. “He’d say, ‘Give me the Seinfeld one — talk with your hands the whole time.’ Or, ‘Give me the Buster Keaton take, give me the Jerry Lewis take,’” Tatum says with a laugh. “We’d do a silent take where we just think the words. I guarantee you there’s a silent version of this movie.” 

Opposite Tatum is Oscar-nominee Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”), playing Manchester’s love interest and emotional anchor. “I was terrified to work with her,” he admits. “She’s one of our greatest living actors, and people forget because she makes it look effortless.” 

Dunst gives what Tatum calls a performance that’s “slow, precise and devastating.” Cianfrance intentionally kept the pair apart until filming their first scene together. “The second I looked into her eyes, every bit of nervousness was gone,” Tatum says. “I thought, ‘She’s going to make me better.’” 

As he did in Bennett Miller’s psychological drama “Foxcatcher,” Tatum poured every part of himself into “Roofman.” He recalls his experience with co-star Mark Ruffalo years earlier: “We held each other and cried for minutes. That movie was a meditation on suffering. I’ve never given that much of myself to a part — until this one.” 

When the conversation turns to AI-generated performers like Tilly Norwood, Tatum pauses. “I instinctually hate it,” he says before sharing an interesting metaphor. “But every innovation in art has caused panic. When acrylic paint came out, oil painters said it wasn’t real art. In the end, it’s just another tool. Still, I hope humans always want to see real humans; to feel what’s on screen that actually hurts and breathes.” 

Tatum’s schedule remains busy. He lights up when the topic turns to Gambit — the long-delayed X-Men character he once tried to bring to life in a solo film before the Disney-Fox merger. His brief cameo in Shawn Levy’s “Deadpool and Wolverine” finally gave him a taste of what might have been. “It was the most high-stakes cosplay of all time,” he says, giddy and excited. “I looked around and saw Deadpool, Wolverine, Blade — and I’m standing there in full Gambit. I had this out-of-body kid moment.” As for what comes next, Tatum hints that Marvel “has ideas” for the character’s future. “If the fans really want it, I think there’s a world where Gambit could finally get his due.”

When asked whether the long-lost “Gambit” movie could ever rise from the ashes, Tatum smirks. “Look…if we’d made our Fox version, that script would’ve never gotten made — ever. It was an R-rated romantic comedy. And when I say R-rated, I mean we went for it,” he says. “We made Gambit the kind of character who could only exist in a movie with Deadpool. We had mutants having sex! It was wild — full-on. That’s something Marvel and Disney would never do. You don’t always know what Disney will be, but you definitely know what it’s not going to be. It’s not gonna be horror. It’s not gonna be sex. But I think Marvel needs that kind of tonal diversity; something to balance the other side. Gambit’s a great opportunity for that. There’s so much you can do with him, and he’s slowly being built into the Marvel psyche. It’s fascinating, and I think one day they’ll figure it out.”

He grins, imagining another version of the film. “If Derek Cianfrance had directed it? Man, it would’ve been ‘Henrich.’ He doesn’t think in terms of special effects. He’d be like, ‘Why does he have to throw cars? Why can’t we do it practical?’ That’s how his brain works. Always grounded, always human.”

The spark dims slightly when the conversation turns to the long-delayed “21 Jump Street” sequel. Despite what Tatum calls “sincerely the best script I’ve ever read for me and Jonah [Hill],” the project has repeatedly stalled in development, weighed down by what he describes as outsized budgets and producer fees that keep sinking it.

“I get asked more about ‘Jump Street 3’ than any other movie on the face of the planet that I’ve ever done,” Tatum says. “I don’t think it’ll ever happen. The problem is the overhead. It would cost as much as the actual budget of the film — if not more — because of all the producers involved. It’s just too top-heavy. It falls over every time.”

According to Tatum, he, Hill and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have agreed to smaller producer fees. The sticking point, he says, remains producer Neal H. Moritz’s compensation, which has made the project financially unworkable. “Neal’s price for a producer fee is huge,” Tatum shares. “And to be honest, that’s what’s killing it.”

The first film grossed $201 million worldwide in 2012, followed by $331 million for the 2014 sequel. Yet despite several attempts, including a scrapped crossover with “Men in Black,” Sony and the filmmakers have struggled to get a third installment off the ground.

Next for the actor, he’s headed to Australia to star in “Cockroach,” directed by “Captain Fantastic” helmer Matt Ross, which he calls “the role of a lifetime. Three movies in one, and totally bonkers.” 

As we wrap, Tatum makes his way out of the Variety offices and stops in the hallway, where a framed photo of Andrew Garfield and Ryan Reynolds from their Variety Studio: Actors on Actors shoot catches his eye. Pulling out his phone, he records a playful video addressed to Reynolds. “Why are you in this car? Where are you driving to?” he jokes, grinning as he walks toward the exit — a movie star still finding humor in the madness of Hollywood. “I’m sure he’ll love that,” as he sends the text.