After recently revealing the messy reasons behind his reluctant involvement in Paramount’s first “G.I. Joe” movie, Channing Tatum also shared another near-miss in his early career. Speaking on THR’s Awards Chatter podcast, the actor said he once turned down the lead role in Derek Cianfrance’s devastating romantic drama “Blue Valentine” — the same part that ultimately went to Ryan Gosling.
Tatum explained that he was first approached by Cianfrance in 2006, shortly after his breakout in “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” premiered at Sundance. The two nearly collaborated on “Blue Valentine,” but Tatum admitted that fear got the better of him. “‘Saints’ came out, he offered me ‘Blue Valentine,’ and I so stupidly turned it down,” Tatum said. “But, you know, [Derek and I] processed it and I’ve processed it.”
“I really and truly believe I was not ready to do that film,” he continued. “I did not know at all what I was doing, acting-wise. Do I believe Derek Cianfrance could have brought me there? Yes, a version of it. At that point in time, I had never been in a relationship that was remotely like that — hadn’t experienced that pain. It was one of the saddest scripts I’ve ever read.”
Laughing, Tatum added that things might be different now. “Now I could do that movie in my sleep! I would phone it in, boy,” he joked, referencing the personal upheaval that came with his 2019 divorce. “So yes, I said no to him then, and I just was too cowardly to jump off the cliff with him. Cut to, like, however many years later — I took about five years when my marriage fell apart, and we realized we were very different people wanting to do very different things.”
Reflecting on that period, Tatum said he largely stepped away from acting to focus on personal growth and family. “I took about five years off,” he said. “Between 2017 and 2022, the only credits were voice parts and cameos — stuff for friends. I just wanted to spend time with my daughter, recalibrate, figure out who I was, what I wanted to do, and what my life was going to be now. I didn’t have a great model for a mom and dad growing up, and I wanted to do better.”
Another “what-if” in Hollywood lore — Tatum also mentioned he once auditioned for “No Country for Old Men” and might’ve landed it had the Coen Brothers gone younger — but it’s hard to imagine anyone but Gosling channeling that fragile, lovesick energy in “Blue Valentine.” Now that Tatum and Cianfrance have finally teamed up on “Roofman,” maybe the collaboration that almost happened nearly two decades ago will get its long-overdue follow-up.
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