Channing Tatum has explained why he took a four-year break from acting before his appearance in Free Guy. The former dancer, whose first breakout role was in the 2006 dance film Step Up, experienced a meteoric rise to stardom in the years that followed. The actor straddled the lines between genres, constantly shifting gears and going from appearing in franchise action films like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra to romantic dramas like The Vow and Dear John, to straight-up comedies like 21 Jump Street. Tatum continued to appear in a diverse crop of movies until 2017, when he briefly fell off the map after appearing in Kingsman: The Golden Circle in 2017.
Although he appeared in several voice roles throughout the intervening years, including Superman in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and Migo in Smallfoot, he didn't appear in a live-action film until 2021. His return to the big screen came in an extended cameo in the hit Ryan Reynolds comedy Free Guy, which premiered this past August. He is now poised to make his return to starring roles in the film Dog, which follows his reluctant bonding with a troubled German Shepherd and hits theaters on February 18. Tatum will also be starring alongside Sandra Bullock and Daniel Radcliffe in the adventure comedy The Lost City, coming in March.
While speaking with Variety, Tatum explained that he had overworked himself in the years leading up the Kingsman sequel. He explained, “I felt like I was... just working and working and working." His exhaustion hit hardest when the star agreed to work on four movie projects back-to-back and non-stop. Tatum said that, ultimately, his exhaustion started to affect his performances, pointing to his roles in the 2014 comedy sequel 22 Jump Street and the splashy 2015 sci-fi flop Jupiter Ascending as the ones he was particularly disappointed in. Read Tatum's comments below:
"I felt like I was the fat kid at the buffet, just working and working and working ... I took four movies back to back without any time off. I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be in those last two movies because I didn’t have the energy.”
Tatum, like many actors who top the charts, apparently found himself caught as an over-worked cog in the Hollywood machine. When an actor's name is in demand, it is easy for them to just continue working without stopping, as seen in a star like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's never-ending string of chart-topping films and TV series. By taking a hiatus, Tatum made an unusual decision for a Hollywood A-lister, but a positive one, in stepping away and prioritizing his own happiness; trusting that the audience would still be there when he was ready to return.
It does seem that this break has refreshed the actor. In addition to his two big upcoming projects in Dog and The Lost City, Tatum will also be returning to his most memorable franchise, Magic Mike, in which he plays a male dancer and stripper. Presumably, even though he has some big time commitments, the actor will make sure he doesn't overlook himself and keep up the work at a more consistent trickle rather than an overwhelming torrent, after his hilariously entertaining comeback to the screen in Free Guy.
Source: Variety