Trivia / Magic Mike

• Actor-Shared Background: Before his acting career, Channing Tatum was a male stripper like his character.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Matthew McConaughey accepted the role within ten minutes when it was offered to him over the phone.
  "I knew that I was just going to be able to fly."
• Channel Hop: Averted with Magic Mike's Last Dance. The film was initially set to release on HBO Max, like Steven Soderbergh's previous films Let Them All Talk, No Sudden Move and Kimi. However, management shifts following the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery resulted in the film being taken back to a theatrical release by Warner Bros., as with the previous films; this made it Soderbergh's first film released in theaters since Unsane.
• Creator Backlash: Channing Tatum has spoken out against the diet and training regimen actors go through to look good on camera, saying that there's nothing healthy about cutting calories and fluids while working out constantly for months on end.
• Dawson Casting: Lampshaded as Alex Pettyfer is a couple of years older than his character, Mike saying "he doesn't look nineteen". Channing Tatum was also a couple of years older than Mike, who is said to be thirty.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Matt Bomer had to put on fifteen pounds of muscle to play Ken.
  • Matthew McConaughey got waxed regularly to prepare.
  • The men had to lift weights between takes in order to maintain their physiques.
• Fake American: Alex Pettyfer is British, playing an American teenager.
• Hostility on the Set: Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer didn't get along during the first movie^note This was during the year Pettyfer all but destroyed his reputation in Hollywood due to his bad behavior, leading to Adam being dropped for the sequel.
• No Budget: Made for only $6 million, which was financed by Channing Tatum and Steven Soderbergh.
• The Other Marty: Thandiwe Newton was cast as the female lead in Magic Mike's Last Dance and had shot some scenes when the role was abruptly recast with Salma Hayek, who reshot Newton's scenes. The reasons for the recast vary, per Newton it was due to family matters.
• Playing with Character Type: The three male leads - Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer and Matthew McConaughey - all were known for being Mr. Fanservice in most of their famous roles. Here they play people who have Fanservice as they're living - and also shows problems associated with such a lifestyle.
• Sequel Gap: Magic Mike's Last Dance came out 7 years after XXL.
• Sleeper Hit: A low-budget drama about male stripping ended up grossing $167 million worldwide, assuring everyone that Matthew McConaughey's Career Resurrection was here and giving Channing Tatum some He Really Can Act reactions.
• Throw It In!: At one point during Dallas's strip routine, he rolls away from the women grabbing at his crotch. This was a result of the female extras getting too excited and accidentally ripping his G-string. Matthew McConaughey just kept on going.
• Wag the Director: Dallas wasn't scripted to have a stripping scene in the original draft of the script. Matthew McConaughey requested to have one, which eventually became the climactic "Ladies of Tampa" sequence.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Nicolas Winding Refn was originally signed on to direct, handpicked by Channing Tatum. But he wasn't able due to scheduling conflicts, and Steven Soderbergh - with whom Tatum was working on Haywire - was chosen as a replacement.
  • Matthew McConaughey had been in talks to reprise his role in the sequel, but his salary had gone up since his Oscar win for Dallas Buyers Club and they couldn't afford him.
  • Rome was written for Jamie Foxx, but ended up getting a Gender Flip and played by Jada Pinkett-Smith.
  • James Marsden told GQ that he was offered a role but turned it down because he was worried his lines would be cut and he'd look like "a naked extra."
  • Anthony Mackie said in interviews that he tried and failed to convince his friend Channing Tatum to give him a role in the film.
  • Jessica Biel was offered the role of Brooke.
• Write What You Know: Sort of. The movie is inspired by Channing Tatum's time as a male stripper when he was eighteen (making Adam something of an Author Avatar). The sequence of Brooke showing up to Adam's first night stripping is based on Channing's own sister showing up on his first night to guilt him out of doing it. However he insists that the story is fictional.
• Written-In Infirmity: Tarzan wears a knee brace when he dances because Kevin Nash has a history of knee problems and wouldn't be able to dance without it. He showed up on set with it and they just added it in.

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