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Channing Tatum: Being a stripper 'turned out to be a gift'

Channing Tatum has never been shy about the fact that he once worked as a stripper, and he told The New York Times T Magazine that he believes the experience helped him."Being a stripper exposed me to a lot of people I might never have met, and that has turned out to be a gift," Tatum said. "There are lots of characters I feel I can play as a result."Tatum's next role is that of Olympic wrestler M
IMAGE: Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum on the cover of \"T, The New York Times Style Magazine\"Collier Schorr / T Magazine

Channing Tatum has never been shy about the fact that he once worked as a stripper, and he told The New York Times T Magazine that he believes the experience helped him.

"Being a stripper exposed me to a lot of people I might never have met, and that has turned out to be a gift," Tatum said. "There are lots of characters I feel I can play as a result."

IMAGE: Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum on the cover of T, The New York Times Style Magazine.Collier Schorr / Today

Tatum's next role is that of Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz in "Foxcatcher," and he says he spent days with Schultz to ensure he played the role as accurately as possible. "In a two-hour movie, I'm never going to be able to show everything about a person, but I tried to grasp the most poignant things and to imbue them into the film."

As with his stripper character in "Magic Mike" and the 2015 sequel, Tatum's body is a major part of his role. "I've always negotiated the world very physically, from football to tussling at the playground to taking my clothes off," he told the magazine. As a child, he struggled with A.D.H.D. and dyslexia and had a tough time in school, and still remembers how that made him feel.

"I have never considered myself a very smart person, for a lot of reasons," he said. "The system is broken. If we can streamline a multibillion-dollar company, we should be able to help kids who struggle the way I did."

"Foxcatcher" opens in theaters on Nov. 14.