Channing Tatum on Finally Playing Gambit & How Ryan Reynolds Made It Happpen (Exclusive)

Channing Tatum spoke with “Extra’s” Melvin Robert at the LA premiere of his film “Blink Twice” after posing on the red carpet with his fiancée, Zoe Kravitz, who co-wrote and directed the film.

Tatum praised his collaboration with Zoe, saying, “As I’ve said before, I think a lot of people either run from their emotions or their hearts or their intuition, or they run from their heads and are very intelligent and can break things down like a design or a chessboard. But she’s the first person to really balance both. She has incredible power from both.”

He continued, “And that creates something else. She’s just so creative and has such taste and knows what’s cool for her. And I think that’s something that a lot of directors don’t even get to do anymore. They just want to get a yes to make a movie, and be like, ‘I’ll make whatever you want to make.’ Luckily, she doesn’t have to do that, because she is who she is and she has the clout.”

Sharing an experience on set when she handed over her notes, he revealed, “She handed anybody a note, and they listened. It doesn’t matter who it is. Whoever it is, whatever it is, she just has that energy. She’s like, ‘I’m giving you my truth. I’m giving you what I see.’ But it was always a dialogue, and that’s why, in a way, I appreciate that as a creator and as a partner. I need her perspective right now.”

Tatum added, “We were actually excited to be in the movie. Everybody was like, ‘Do you really want to do that?’ And I was like, ‘No, that’s where we’re comfortable.’ Creating is where we’re comfortable. I don’t know, everything else… We’ve been living in this movie since we started dating, so we don’t actually know what we’re going to do after this. I think we’re going to have to create something else.”

The star also spoke about his surprise cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine and finally getting to play the role of Gambit, praising Ryan Reynolds for believing in him.

“You’ve said that no one in this industry is more supportive of you than Ryan Reynolds,” Melvin said.

Channing explained, “A lot of people want to help, but they don’t have the ability. But I don’t think anybody’s done what Ryan did for me. I mean, I think he got it. When he was trying to make Deadpool for 10 years, he knew what it was, and finally he got it and finally made it iconic in his own way. He has that understanding, and he’s a really classy guy.”

He added, “He was the one who insisted that Gambit should be in the actual movie. Marvel just didn’t really know what to do with him. He’s a weird grey area character. Is he a hero? Is he a thief? He has this weird idiom that very few other people in the X-Men universe have.”

Tatum said of Reynolds: “I think he was like, ‘No, you need to have your moment to see what you’re capable of,’ and he just believed in me, and I’m grateful for that. Even if it means I have to dress up as my favorite superhero for one scene, I’m all for it.”