January 14

Matt Bomer Takes It Off

Out actor Matt Bomer is playing a male stripper in the upcoming film Magic Mike, a comedy loosely based on Channing Tatum’s experiences as an exotic dancer when he was a teenager living in Tampa, FL. Joining Tatum and Bomer in the cast are British actor Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey and Joe Manganiello. Magic Mike centers around an up and coming male stripper known as “the Kid” (Pettyfer) who is mentored by a seasoned professional, Mike (Tatum). Seems that McConaughey, Tatum, and Pettyfer, who are not exactly known for their acting chops, have at last found a vehicle to showcase their collective best feature, their buffed bodies (Bomer and Manganiello, who sport plenty of the latter, are classically trained actors). The movie is scheduled to be in theaters June 29, 2012.

Bomer’s role required him to get waxed, a painful procedure usually endured only by women. Said Bomer, “I had never been waxed before. I’m not a very hairy individual to begin with, but it was painful. But let me tell you, Channing's dance to the song 'Pony' is one of the sickest things I've ever seen in my life. Obviously this movie is targeted toward a certain demographic, but I think what people don't understand is it also has, in a roundabout way, an appeal for guys too. It's a coming-of-age story, very Saturday Night Fever/Boogie Nights. ”

"Channing was incredibly supportive," Matt continued, speaking about Tatum’s praise of the guys' dancing in the flick. "This could have been a really awkward experience, just a bunch of guys hanging out in thongs, but Channing was so cool and supportive from the get-go, as well as director Steven Soderbergh. It made it a really fun experience.” Continuing in a tongue-in-cheek vein, Bomer added, “It's one of the tightest ensembles I've ever worked with, for sure. We will have each others' back for a long time to come.”

Channing revealed that cast members did their own dancing. “There is not a bit of substitution, everyone was game to take it off and get crazy.”

A still photo of the cast in action was revealed to be part of the strippers’ Fourth of July dance. “They're giving some spoilers out,” Bomer said. “You’ve got to celebrate the Fourth of July, you've got to. Sometimes you've got to celebrate it in a thong.”

In response to comments that straight women and gay men are the most excited about the movie, Tatum revealed that more guys ask him about his stripper past than ladies. I give Channing Tatum credit for not trying to whitewash a rather sordid moment from his past. Instead, we have a celebrity who actually embraces a less than stellar chapter from his younger years.

"Look, I wouldn't grab all my boys to go see a male stripping movie – I get it – but I can promise you that anytime I've told anyone that I did it for real for eight months when I was 18 and 19, the guys ask more questions than the girls do," Channing said. "That's kind of why we made the movie. We wanted to give a window for people to see what the inner-working and people and characters are – it's a bizarre world.”

Glad he explained it. Now, back to those tan lines.