Channing Tatum learned his first dance moves from abuelas at quinceañeras

Channing Tatum is reflecting on his high school years, revealing during a recent interview with James Corden, that he actually learned his first dance moves from grandmothers at his friends’ parties.

The ‘Magic Mike’ star explained he was a late bloomer when it came to dancing and he had to act fast because he wanted to learn how to dance. “It was survival,” the actor said, describing the moment he was taught by a grandmother at one his friends’ birthday party.

“I was a tall skinny white kid from Florida and I couldn’t dance with any of the Spanish girls at the quinceañeras,” Channing explained, “I just had to grab an abuela and be like, ‘You’ve got to help.’ And she did.”

Dancing has been an important part of the actor’s life, from taking the stage in ‘Magic Mike’ to being challenged on the dance floor by strangers, Channing was asked if he felt pressure about dancing in public, to which he recalled his success after filming the 2006 film ‘Step Up.’

“When I did Step Up that was absolutely the case,” he said, “Every time I went to a club, I swear, someone would try to battle.”

Now the actor is sharing more details about his upcoming movie ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance,’ revealing that it will be an untraditional love story,“We’re trying to do a fish-out-of-water story where it’s a reverse-role ‘Pretty Woman’ story that ends up with a lot of dancing in it.”