In the coming-of-age drama A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), Tatum appeared in his first dramatic role as Antonio, opposite Robert Downey, Jr., Dianne Wiest and Shia LaBeouf. He received positive buzz about his performance after the films' showing at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as Best Supporting Male for the film.
In a 2004 episode of CSI Miami Tatum played the role of Bob Davenport.
Tatum has earned Martial Arts belts in both Kung Fu and Gor-Chor Kung Fu. It was his casting as a dancer in Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" music video that got Tatum noticed by the modeling world. In 2001, Tear Sheet magazine picked Tatum as one of the "50 Most Beautiful Faces."
April 2007 - Born Channing Bryan Isaac Tatum Anderson, it's no wonder he goes by the nickname of Chan. Tatum was raised near Birmingham, Alabama. He loved the bayous, adventure and sports. Passionate about football, Tatum earned a full athletic college scholarship to Glenville State College in West Virginia.
Tatum left college and worked in construction and real estate before he began a modeling career; appearing in ads for Abercrombie & Fitch, Armani, Aeropostale, Emporio, Gap and Nautica. His striking and unique good looks didn't go unnoticed, and Tatum was soon making TV commercials in ads for Pepsi, American Eagle and Mountain Dew.
Sprouting his wings, Tatum auditioned for and landed four small film roles in 2005. In Havoc he played one of the background characters. In Coach Carter he played the street smart basketball player, Jason Lyle, opposite Samuel L. Jackson. He portrayed a top motocross racer in Supercross and had a small unaccredited part in War of the Worlds.
Tatum seemed perfect to play the love interest of Amanda Bynes's character in She's the Man (2006). Step Up, however, that same year, seemed to be the turning point of his career. Tatum played a lead in the film, a rebel from the wrong side of the tracks who lands in big trouble and is rescued by a privileged ballet dancer (Jenna Dewan). A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, his next movie, garnered him an Independent Spirit Award.
Two new films are further accentuating Tatum's acting strengths. In Kimberly Peirce's Stop Loss, Tatum plays Jared - opposite Ryan Phillippe - in a story about a soldier returning back home to Texas after fighting in Iraq and refusing a government mandate to return to battle. Tatum will play Johnson, an activist protesting the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, in Stuart Townsend's Battle In Seattle.
In Parkour, a film in production, Tatum will portray a renegade New York City cop who must infiltrate the world of bank robbers.
