Channing Tatum is getting candid about both his career and personal journey. In a new Variety cover story published September 2, the 45-year-old actor opened up about his upcoming film “Roofman” while also reflecting on the lessons he learned from his split with Jenna Dewan.
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)When asked about playing a character who misses his daughter, Tatum compared it to his own experience of co-parenting his 12-year-old daughter, Everly, with his ex-partner, Dewan.
“Jenna and I are good now, but it was a painful break to have that fall apart, especially being so young,” he said.
Tatum Makes A Vulnerable Admission About Missing Daughter
He may be a booked-and-busy actor, but at his core, life revolves around his daughter, whom he deeply misses while navigating joint custody.
“We tried to keep it together, tried for a year and a half, but we knew it was.… Not to go into all that. It’s in the past. But it’s really tough not to have your daughter half the time. I wish I could just have her all the time.”
A Look Back at Tatum & Dewan’s Relationship
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Tatum and Dewan first met in 2006 while filming “Step Up”. They got engaged two years later and married in Malibu, California, in 2009. After nearly a decade together, they separated in 2018.
Dewan officially filed for divorce in October 2018, and the case was settled six years later in September 2024.
“I know for a fact I’m able to understand it,” Tatum explained. “I’ve lived six or seven different lives. Life gives you fuel. If you’ve really been heartbroken, and really been in pain and felt real, true aloneness … I’ve experienced enough life that I have something to offer.”
Dewan on Strength & Fresh Starts
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)Earlier this year, Dewan opened up about her own journey in an essay for InStyle. “This past year I learned that life has a way of bringing you exactly what you need to learn at exactly the right time,” she wrote. Though she did not mention Tatum directly, she noted, “The transitions weren’t just changes; they were invitations to grow, to lean into the discomfort and discover the strength I didn’t know I had.”
Dewan, now engaged to actor Steve Kazee, shares two young children with him: Callum, 5, and Rhiannon, 14 months.
Tatum’s New Role in “Roofman“
In “Roofman”, Tatum stars as Jeffrey Manchester, a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs. The film, which also features Kirsten Dunst as his love interest Leigh, follows Manchester’s double life as he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us while planning his next move.
The movie will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before arriving in theaters on October 10
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