Channing Tatum photographed by Bruce Weber for Vanity Fair July 2013 cover story.
Here is what the actor had to share with Vanity Fair.
On fatherhood
“I don’t think you can prepare. It’s a bit of a freestyle,” Channing Tatum tells Vanity Fair contributing editor Rich Cohen about raising children with his wife, Jenna Dewan. His parents, Tatum says, set a good example “for better and worse. They weren’t perfect. I don’t know anyone who did have perfect parents. It’s provided me with lessons I’ll try to improve upon when I’m up to bat. I’m just going to be a good friend to my kid. One thing I definitely want to change is that whole ‘I don’t want you to make the same mistakes’ mentality. My dad didn’t have much money growing up; he didn’t have much of an education. He forced that on me, and I didn’t want it.”
Tatum tells Cohen that his father worked as a roofer right up to the day he fell through a roof and broke his back. Though he recovered, he could never again do heavy labor and consequently became a salesman. Tatum’s father channeled his dreams into his son, stressing education, but Tatum struggled. “I read so slow,” he tells Cohen. “If I have a script I’m going to read it five times slower than any other actor, but I’ll be able to tell you everything in it. It kills me that there are standardized tests geared towards just one kind of child.”
