Channing Tatum auditioned for No Country For Old Men

Channing Tatum has revealed that he unsuccessfully auditioned for the Coen brothers' 2007 film No Country for Old Men.

While he was best known for films like She's the Man and Step Up at the time, the actor was given the opportunity to audition for the role of Llewelyn Moss, Josh Brolin's character, in the crime thriller.

Tatum knew he was too young for the role and wouldn't book the job, but he was keen to get in the room with Joel and Ethan Coen anyway.

"I got a chance to audition for No Country For Old Men, and I was ten years too young for the part. And I knew I was ten years too young for the part, but I was like, 'Please just get me in there. Get me an audition,'" he said on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast. "I was such a fan of the Coens and I was like, I know I'm not gonna get the movie, but I know I'll be a better actor after I come out of that room."

He added, "I was prepared as many ways as I possibly could and went in and was just open because I really just wanted to learn from them. I really wanted to see how they would direct and what they would say and what they see."

The Magic Mike actor made it through several rounds of auditions before losing out on the part. Despite not booking the role, Tatum still has a fond memory of the experience because it changed how he approached auditions.

"(They said) if they were gonna go younger, it was gonna be me," he continued. "And I, for whatever reason, something clicked. When you're a young actor, you just want to get the job and that does something to you... The fact that I knew I wasn't going to get the job freed me up from whatever that was. I went into every single audition after that different."

Tatum later worked with the Coens on their 2016 comedy Hail, Caesar!