Channing Tatum On His ‘Roofman’ Film And Finding Freedom In His Career

Kirsten Dunst and Channing Tatum on the set of Paramount Pictures’ “ROOFMAN”

Davi Russo

Channing Tatum has lit up the big screen for two decades now, with his movie star good looks, seemingly effortless charm and wide range of character performances. Beloved for his roles in such films as She’s The Man, Step Up, Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street and Foxcatcher, the Alabama-born actor’s star continues to rise in Hollywood, as even deeper and more thought-provoking scripts come his way.

With his latest film, Roofman – now playing in theaters, Tatum, 45, plays Jeffrey Manchester, the true story of a burglar who breaks out of prison and hides for months in a Toys ‘R’ Us, as he strives to see and ultimately do right by his kids.

Directed by Derek Cianfrance, Tatum gives arguably the most raw and emotional performance of his career thus far with Roofman, bringing a compassionate depth to the portrayal of Jeffrey that will undoubtedly tug at the heartstrings of moviegoers everywhere and make them want to root for this felon on-the-run.

Sitting down with the Hollywood leading man for our latest interview together, Tatum was initially drawn to the Roofman role and story because he says that he could relate to Jeffrey on many levels.

Tatum said, “In reading the script, I felt even though we had very, very different lives and made definitely different decisions, I have a daughter. If my back was against the wall or in a corner, I would do literally anything to make sure that she had everything that she needed to have. That being said, I kind of relate to Jeff in the way that he loves. Maybe he loves too much, sometimes. He wants to do it right, but he just kind of can’t figure it out. He can’t get it out of his own way, I think. That sort of spoke to me.”

Throughout the production process of Roofman, Tatum has communicated with the real Jeffrey Manchester, calling him, “one of the most optimistic humans that I’ve ever met. I think he is a different person than he was then, for sure. I mean, to be still so warm and optimistic and funny. I just liked the guy.”

Having played so many characters on-screen already, I wondered what it was about playing Jeffrey in Roofman that excited and challenged Tatum differently than his past projects.

“I think the vulnerability aspect of it,” Tatum said. “I knew that it was going to be told through his perspective. I haven’t played – I have a daughter, again, like I said. I was really missing her at this point. I didn’t get to see her at all, really, on this movie. She came out for like one weekend. She was in school and we were shooting in Charlotte, and it’s just tough to take her out of school. It’s not great and I think I was feeling all of that. Jeff is really lonely, and staying there and trying to explore that. Exploring it with a master filmmaker, it was definitely scary, but I didn’t have anything left by the end of the movie.”

Having brought up his 12-year-old daughter, Everly, a couple of times during our discussion, whom he shares with his ex-wife Jenna Dewan, did Tatum’s own paternal instincts help him reach the depths expected of him within this Roofman role?

“Totally. I mean, me and Jeff, I talked to him a lot and that was the one thing that broke my heart, because I’ve gotten to do my version of being a dad. I’m a single dad, so I wished I could have done the family thing. I wanted that as badly as he did and that wasn’t in the cards for me. And so, I’ve had to find my own version of being a dad and being a parent in general and navigating all those sort of intricacies.”

Being an actor, a producer, a children’s book author with his Sparkella series and a leader behind the “Magic Mike Live” shows around the world, I was curious where Tatum would say that his greatest professional priorities reside most these days.

Tatum said, “That’s a tough question. I think my priorities, I used to say it was just creating – I just want to create, and I don’t think it’s as simple as that anymore. I think freedom has become a real focal point – freedom in everything. Freedom in creating, freedom in how I get to live my life and how I love the people that I love, and making sure that I’m doing it fully and openly and freely. The things that I go choose to do, they need to make me feel free, and that will bring the creative out of me in a way. So, I think that’s kind of my new perspective.”

Reflecting upon his celebrated career, Tatum says he finds the greatest joy in the fact that he gets to develop movies and other projects – having started out in the industry as a model and initially turning heads in a 2002 Mountain Dew commercial.

“I think I started acting before I knew how to act. I luckily was getting jobs before I knew what I was doing. Then, as I sort of got more along the road and I had more power, I started to learn how to develop stories and characters. I thought I did my best work in the movies that I got to really germinate from word one and idea one. You kind of build the story around yourself and I really love stories.”

With Kirsten Dunst co-starring in Roofman as Leigh, a woman who Jeffrey becomes romantically involved with while on-the-run, Tatum has nothing but good things to say about his main scene partner.

“I was nervous to act with Kirsten,” Tatum said. “I mean, she’s a beast of an actress. We’ve watched her since she’s like 10. People would ask what’s my favorite movie of hers and there’s too many to pick from. I almost said Melancholia once. I could literally name 17 of them and all of them – she picks great directors and great scripts and great characters. Her taste is flawless and her craft, and what she’s able to do is flawless, but it comes from who she is. She is just as real as you can come as a human. You don’t get any false pretense. She’s not going to act for you. That’s just all her. She will tell you exactly how she feels and that was the biggest gift you can get, I think, as an actor, standing across from somebody, is somebody just being truthful and open and bare with you.”

Remaining within the public eye for over 20 years, I asked Tatum – Who is Channing Tatum in 2025? What brings the greatest passion and purpose to your life lately?

“I’m still trying to figure out, but it’s making me more excited than I have been in a really long time, to figure out the balance, because I don’t have to go to work. I really try to say with my daughter that dad doesn’t have to go to work. Dad gets to go to work, because I want her to love whatever she does and kind of have the same point-of-view on work. Work is good. It’s not a bad thing – it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but work is always hard. It’s always going to be work. I have one of the best jobs in the world, but sometimes, it gets hard – and that’s just what it is, but I think I’ve really enjoyed this new point-of-view that I have on life, that I really am clearer on what I will and what I won’t do.”

Circling back to Roofman, Tatum concluded by saying, “I wanted to go take this on. Derek is a master filmmaker. I would have done anything with him. I would have done any part in this movie. I knew that it was going to push me to a place that I would probably grow – not just as an actor, but as a human in general, and I was right. I’m a different human from having gone on this journey with Derek and this journey with Jeff.”