Channing Tatum wasn’t always convinced that returning to the “Magic Mike” franchise was a good idea.
During an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” the actor revealed that his biggest concern stemmed from maintaining the appearance necessary for the film.
“That might be the reason why I didn’t want to do a third one,” the “Step Up” star noted.
He continued: “Because I have to look like that. It’s hard to look like that. Even if you do work out, to be that kind of in shape is not natural. That’s not even healthy.”
The 41-year-old elaborated that maintaining the level of fitness means “you have to starve yourself.”
“I don’t think when you’re that lean, it’s actually healthy,” he explained.
“I don’t know how people who work a 9 to 5 actually stay in shape because it’s my full-time job, and I can barely do it. Why — when it takes like, I don’t know, two months to get really lean — in three days, you can lose it? It’s gone. I was like, ‘What happened?”
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While Tatum’s concerns are extremely valid, it seems as though he figured out a balance because in November 2021, he confirmed that a third film, titled “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” was officially in the works.
“Well world, looks like Mike Lane’s tapping back in,” Tatum captioned an image of the script that notes he will be reprising his role of Mike Lane.
But while Tatum was hesitant about the film, there’s one actor from the original movie – who didn’t appear in the sequel – that wants a shot at reprising his character: Matthew McConaughey.
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The 52-year-old starred as strip club owner Dallas in the original film but opted out of appearing in the second installment.
“Channing Tatum, call me, bro! I haven’t heard from ya!” he told Variety in a recent interview.
While he noted that he’d “have to read [the script] first,” he didn’t deny that “it was a helluva lot of fun doing the first one.”
The film is set to debut on HBO Max. No premiere date has been announced.
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