Channing Tatum Works on Magic Mike 2 Script While Staring at Bust of Matthew McConaughey

Actor writing sexy follow-up to 2012 stripper flick

By Rebecca Macatee Feb 10, 2014 3:00 PMTags
Channing Tatum, TwitterTwitter

When the real-life stripper version of Matthew McConaughey is not available, Channing Tatum draws inspiration from the next best thing: A bust of the Magic Mike hunk!

On Sunday, Channing got to work on the sexy stripper movie's follow-up film. He tweeted a picture of himself staring contemplatively at a sculpture of Mr. McConaughey's head, shoulders and upper chest, musing, "What better way to start writing #MagicMike2 than with my old friend Dallas?"

Dallas, as you may recall, is the male strip club owner Matthew plays alongside "Magic" Mike (Channing) in the 2012 Steven Soderbergh-directed flick. The actor, who just recently scored an Oscar nomination for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, looked great in next-to-nothing, but he was a tiny bit uncomfortable strutting around set that way!

"You go, ‘I have to walk out there amongst the crew and have small time conversations.' Like, ‘So how you do? What'd you have for lunch? Did you see the game this weekend?'" he recalled on The Graham Norton Show. "Try to have some small talk in this thong without flinching. It was hard!" (That's what she said.)

And remember Dallas' standout solo dance at the end of Magic Mike? Matthew was a little apprehensive on that, too. "I remember that phone call when [director] Steven Soderbergh was talking to me about the part and I was already on one knee laughing at this world and this pitch," he said. "And he goes, ‘You know, it's not in the script right now but Dallas, we really think he should have his own dance at the end. I think it would be a good idea.' And immediately in this ear my head's going, ‘No, no, no, no!' and in this ear it was like, ‘Are you kidding me? You have to if you get a chance.'"

Exactly. Let's hope Magic Mike 2 has even more dancing Dallas than the original!