It seems as if it was just yesterday that a red-thong-clad Channing Tatum was steaming up our screens.
But it's actually been 10 years since the release of Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh's slick (literally, due to all the oil) tale about the titular charismatic stripper who dreams of opening his own business and takes an aimless college dropout under his wing.
Of course, even the bromantic plot was a distant second to the eye candy, moviegoers not exactly flocking to theaters in 2012 to see the title character's custom furniture. (Surely if this film was made now Mike would just have an Etsy store.) Rather, Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez and Kevin Nash offered their bodies up for cult-classic posterity in a twist on the usual male gaze trope and made it rain, raking in $168 million on a $7 million budget.
Watching those fellows bare almost all caused "a kaleidoscope of emotions," Cody Horn, who played Pettyfer's sister and Tatum's love interest, joked to E! News back in 2012. While her character, Brooke, was supposed to look visibly put off by her brother's new profession while unavoidably intrigued by Tatum's skills, she admitted, "If it was me up there, I would've been like, 'Ah, look at this unbelievable guy.'"
The screaming ladies on hand to enjoy the "C--k-Rocking Kings of Tampa" had no such inhibitions.
"Based on our experiences dancing with the extras," Bomer told E!, "these girls were not afraid to cross boundaries, to cross lines, to touch you in special places."
Manganiello agreed, recalling in a studio featurette, "They went wild, man. At one point they ripped McConaughey's thong off." (Subsequently, improvisational crotch-cupping by the future Oscar winner was required.)
By popular demand, Magic Mike has since spawned an XXL sequel and an HBO reality competition, plus Tatum has confirmed that they're going to make Mike's journey a trilogy. But you never forget your first dance.
So in honor of the all-beef original's 10th anniversary, we've got your behind-the-scenes secrets right here: