It’s sort of crazy to think that Channing Tatum is arguably our biggest movie star right now. Of his generation, I mean. The late 20s, early 30s actors. Channing is bigger than the Marvel guys, he’s bigger than many of the so-called “great young actors.” And by that I mean Channing has been delivering big hits pretty consistently, Jupiter Ascending notwithstanding. So it’s an obvious choice to be Channing on the August cover of Vanity Fair. He’s pretty, he’s potato-y, he’s got fantastic arms and Channing knows how to give a good interview. You can read the full piece here (VF did release their entire cover story) and here are some highlights:

The Sony Hack email: “I’m sure, I’m positive, I’ve written bad e-mail. I just got lucky that’s not the one out there.”

Why he did Foxcatcher: “I’d come to this place where I didn’t want to just keep doing parts because I think the movies will do well. I want to do character work. I still like all the movies I’ve done … but with Foxcatcher I went deeper.”

The birth of his first child: “It was crazy. You feel helpless. We like to think of ourselves as big, strong men, and we could handle whatever situation. And reality is [that women] are so much stronger than we could ever be. There’s a reason why we weren’t given that job, evolutionary or whatever. My wife, she’s a warrior. She did it as natural as you can. [As a man], you’re basically a cheerleader. ‘Come on, baby, you can do it.’ I would’ve tapped out in the first.”

Fatherhood: “It’s scary. You made this thing and have to bring it into the world together. You think people are going to be there, but ultimately you just have each other. Knock on wood, everything goes well, now you have a baby. They’re like, ‘O.K., here you go.’ They hand it to you, and you’re like, ‘Uh, wait a minute. Aren’t you guys going to come home with us and make sure we’re not screwing this thing up?’ I think every parent has that moment where they’re like, ‘Oh, maybe this was a bad idea; we don’t know how to do this.’ You can’t put it back in there. It doesn’t go that direction. But Jenna is a super mom. There’s no other way to say it. She is there every single second, every single day. I love being a dad. They’re like little mirrors running around. They show you things about yourself you wouldn’t pay attention to before. Jenna says it all the time: ‘Oh, my God, that is so you right there.’ But I don’t know if I’m good at it.”

Bad fathers: “Conversely, I know some guys that would’ve been better off without their fathers around. It’s case-by-case: did you get loved too much or not enough? I now look back on my own parents and have a better appreciation.”

His fitness: “You work out as much as you possibly can to burn, but that part is not hard for me. I enjoy it. I have a great trainer and great buddies and we push each other … run, cycle, hit the bags … CrossFit stuff. But you can do that five times a day and if you’re not eating right you’re not going to lose anything. There’s a bunch of schools of thought. I’ve gone Paleo, where they let you eat bacon. I’ve also done the opposite and carbed out in the morning, oatmeal or some sort of a starch. I like grits.”

Movie stars & social media: “This is something we were just talking about. The Brad Pitts, the Leos, the Downeys: Why aren’t there new versions of those guys? I think people just know too much about actors, about everything. Behind the scenes. It’s almost like the world is so with you all the time, people on the phones and blah blah blah, that to go into a movie theater for three hours and lose that time is harder and harder. People watch TV at home and they’re still on their phone, wired. They’re even wired to the actors. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. You feel connected. So that [actor] doesn’t feel as mythic anymore. I used to go see movies to watch people because I didn’t know anything about them. The only time I got access was in a movie. I wanted to go see the movie because I hadn’t seen my guy in a while.”

[From Vanity Fair]

He talks a lot about Magic Mike XXL, obviously, and he chats for a while about Quentin Tarantino and working on The Hateful Eight. It’s a good piece, but I can feel Channing becoming more guarded as he grows up and becomes Hollywood’s go-to guy – it feels like just four years ago, Channing would have done this interview in Alabama and he would have been wrestling hogs or something, for fun. As for “where are the Pitts, Leos and Downeys of his generation?” He’s it. He’s the Pitt/Leo for many people.

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair.