01 December 2015
Newsdesk
Magic Mike star Channing Tatum fell out with actor Alex Pettyfer on the set of the male stripper movie over the Brit's awkward behaviour.
The 25-year-old starred in the 2012 movie but didn't return for the sequel Magic Mike XXL, which was released earlier this year (15), and in a podcast chat with writer Bret Easton Ellis, Pettyfer insists Channing doesn't like him, because he didn't represent himself correctly while on the set of the first movie.
"I was scared to speak," he recalled. "I actually did my work and I sat in the corner and listened to music because I had been told anything I did was wrong by my reps. I was very insecure as a human being. That also gave me a bad rep because everyone was like, 'Alex doesn't speak because he thinks he's better than everyone else.' That's not true. I was just generally nervous and scared to be myself. I was in character."
To make matters worse, Alex missed a rent payment on a home he was leasing from one of Channing's friends and a series of heated emails were exchanged between the pair.
Pettyfer admits he deeply regrets his part in the drama now.
"All of a sudden, I got a very negative email from Channing - rightfully so - saying, ‘Don't f**k my friends. You owe money. Pay the f**king money. Don't be a clown,'" Alex continued, "and I really took that the wrong way, which I shouldn't have.
"I emailed him back and said, 'I'm in a real negative headspace and can you respect me for a moment and blah, blah, blah'. I got hounded through this time of grieving for money. By the end of it, I just said, 'F**k them, what is money when life is so much more. I'm not paying', and I should have just paid. I think he was looking for an excuse to not like me."
Alex insists he has learned a valuable lesson from the 35-year-old star, adding, "Channing was actually an incredible influence on me because after this whole situation happened... This was kind of the end of my immaturity and all my experiences put into one...
"It was an incredible experience making Magic Mike. I wouldn't replace it for anything."
Magic Mike and the film's sequel is based on Tatum's experiences as a stripper in Florida at the beginning of his career.
