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Proof Channing Tatum Can't Keep His Cool Around Magic Mike Co-Star Salma Hayek

Channing Tatum gushed about working with his celebrity crush Salma Hayek on the new film Magic Mike's Last Dance. Plus, Salma shares what dance moves she learned from the cast.

By Paige Strout Jan 26, 2023 7:08 PMTags
Watch: Salma Hayek Says "Get Ready" for Magic Mike at Golden Globes

It's not often that you get to work alongside your celebrity crush.

But that's exactly what Channing Tatum got to do in Magic Mike's Last Dance, which premieres Feb. 10. And while the star is currently dating The Batman star Zoë Kravitz, he couldn't help but lose his cool when talking about his celeb crush: co-star Salma Hayek.

And according to the star, being famous doesn't ease any nerves. "That doesn't matter," Channing exclusively told E! News at the film's Jan. 25 premiere in Miami Beach, Florida. "No one is famous around her. She's just Salma."

The movie, the third installment in the Magic Mike series, sees Channing return as the film's titular stripper, as he teams up with Salma's Maxandra Mendoza to put together a brand-new show in London, which as the film's title suggests, may be his last.

And the 21 Jump Street star has come a long way since the series' first film premiered in 2012, so much so that he joked, "You ain't got enough time and I don't even have enough comprehension to be able to tell you."

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But that growth—which includes starring in films such as Logan Lucky, The Lost City and the Oscar-nominated Foxcatcher—is what led him to work with Salma for the first time, as she told E! News that she met Channing for the first time on set.

Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images

And while she's done some dancing of her own onscreen—most notably her memorable dance scene in 1996's From Dusk Till Dawn—when it came to Magic Mike's dance scenes, Salma revealed that Channing "did most of the work," adding, "He just made me feel a little safer."

"I didn't have to take my clothes off, I didn't have to be on a diet like everyone else," the Puss in Boots: The Last Wish star noted, "and now, I get to have someone dance for me for a change."

Not only that, but she picked up a move or two from the cast. "The boys were trying to teach me the body roll but for some reason, I kept doing it backwards," she shared. "I did it, but I did it backwards. I said, 'I guess it's a dyslexia.'"

Magic Mike's Last Dance premieres in theaters Feb. 10.

Reporting by Becky Randel

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