- Channing Tatum spoke to People in an interview published Friday.
- Tatum said he was “starstruck” meeting Matt Damon while filming “Haywire” in 2011.
- He asked where Damon was from, but felt embarrassed because it’s well known that Damon is from Boston.
Channing Tatum said he embarrased himself when he first met Matt Damon by asking the actor where he’s from — before remembering that “everyone on the planet knows” Damon is from Boston.
Tatum recalled the gaff, which happened while filming Steven Soderbergh’s film “Haywire” in 2011, during an interview published by People on Friday.
“We’re in Albuquerque, and we’ve shot for the day. We’re all just hanging out at the hotel bar and Matt Damon comes by to hang out with Soderbergh. I’m just beside myself,” Tatum, 42, said. “I’m such a fan, and still am. I sat down next to him, and I was like, ‘Hey, man. Where are you from?’ — and I was like ‘I just asked Matt Damon where he’s from.'”
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Tatum continued, “everyone on the planet knows where Matt Damon is from” and “he obviously knows that I know where Matt Damon is from.”
“I almost didn’t recover,” Tatum told the outlet. “I don’t think I said anything for the next maybe two hours or so, and I still think about it today. Every once in a while, I’ll just have a cold sweat and feel like, I can’t believe….”
According to IMDb, Damon was born in Boston, Massachusetts, before moving to Newton and later the city of Cambridge. Some of Damon’s films take place in the Boston area, including “Good Will Hunting” and “The Departed.”
Fortunately, Tatum told People Damon was “such a good guy” who didn’t dwell on his question and continued the conversation.
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“He knew I was freaking out and just didn’t even acknowledge it. Because he’s such a personable guy,” Tatum said. “He just took care of me in that moment and answered me. It was like nothing ever happened. He was just like, ‘Oh, I’m from Boston. Where are you from?’ and I was like, ‘I’m from Florida.'”
“In my head I just kept screaming: ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” Tatum said.
In the interview, Tatum said he can sometimes “panic when I talk to people,” so he doesn’t “really like to meet famous people or meet the people that I admire or even like their work.”
Tatum’s latest film, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” is the most recent film from the franchise, which debuted in June 2012. For the third installment, Tatum worked alongside Salma Hayek Pinault, who shared behind-the-scenes details about working together.
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In January, Pinault said Tatum almost “killed” her while rehearsing a lap dance for the film.
“You know, this one part that’s not in it where I’m upside down and my legs had to be somewhere. But upside down, one loses sense of direction, and I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, so in the rehearsal, I went like, head down, almost hit my head,” Pinault told Jimmy Kimmel.
In February, she also told GQ Hype that there was “so much testosterone” on set that she feared “growing a mustache.”
