There’s no doubt that Channing Tatum had several notable roles throughout the 2000s in films like Coach Carter (2005), She’s the Man (2006), and Step Up (2006). However, the 2010s featured Tatum’s best, most memorable, and funniest roles of his career. This was the decade that made him a superstar, and this list will tell the story of how he works against the archetypes typically assigned to an actor of his stature and physique.
Several of these projects were made by the biggest directors Hollywood had to offer at the time, and as such, each respective cast is also filled to the brim with talent and name value. And everyone involved in these projects further facilitated humorous performances from the actor at hand. But without further ado, here are Channing Tatum’s ten funniest roles of the 2010s.
10 Jody Domergue – The Hateful Eight
This is far from the most laugh-out-loud role of his career, but considering The Hateful Eight (2015) is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, nearly every featured character utters a funny line of dialogue at some point or another. Walton Goggins shines as a particularly hilarious personality in this revisionist western, but aside from him, almost everyone else in the movie is of more serious demeanors.
However, there’s not a soul among the cast that doesn’t crack the occasional joke, and while Tatum’s one-liners aren’t exactly funny in the most on-paper of fashions, his character in general is bound to induce laughter from fans of the American actor. He has a hardcore southern accent, he’s missing teeth, and generally, Jody Domergue just doesn’t appear like your average Channing Tatum role. But he sells it with the same convincing charisma that will have been written home about ad nauseam by the time this list is done.
9 Magic Mike
The first entry of the franchise by American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, and the second of Tatum’s five collaborations with the director. Over a decade down the line, Magic Mike (2012) is still their most famous project, too, and easily among their funniest work together. He shows up in the titular role as a male stripper who takes a young man under his wing as he tries to get into Mike’s line of work.
It’s worth noting, though, that this performance isn’t quite as comedic as it may appear on the surface. The film tackles a surprising poignancy of themes, and its characters are actually more serious than their flashy personalities and humorous occupations (male strippers) would immediately suggest.
8 Burt Gurney – Hail, Caesar!
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, other famous actors in the star-studded cast of Hail, Caesar! (2016) includes the likes of George Clooney, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, and Josh Brolin. Channing Tatum manages to fit in like he was born to convey the absurdity that stems from the original minds of the Brothers Coen.
He plays a character named Burt Gurney, who gives off vibes similar to a performer such as Dean Kelly. And he operates within a musically-inspired, mystery-based plot that’s set in a 1950s Hollywood and follows Eddie Mannix — a real life “fixer” of celebrities, covering up their personal lives to preserve their public image. He’s tasked with discovering the whereabouts of a film star after the latter disappeared while filming a biblical epic. Tatum shows up just like the rest of the cast in classic Coen fashion.
7 Logan Lucky
As the titular Jimmy Logan, this heist film by American director Steven Soderbergh provided fresh insight into Tatum’s more intelligent comedic chops. His performance was facilitated by a brilliant script with equally impressive directorial efforts from Soderbergh.
It’s a more subtle sense of humor with sardonic dialogue and a careful attention to delivery, but still, this without a doubt ranks among Tatum’s funniest roles of the decade. Adam Driver is bound to make you laugh in Logan Lucky (2017), as well, perhaps to a greater extent than Tatum, but their dynamic would never have worked without the latter’s more dim-witted style of acting. This was Tatum’s third collaboration with Soderbergh after the first two Magic Mike films, and from a sheerly qualitative perspective of the overall project itself, this would undoubtedly come out on top.
6 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
This computer-animated adventure comedy is sure to hit home with those who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. It’s a sequel to The Lego Movie (2014), and considering Channing Tatum appears in both entries as the DC Comics hero Superman, it would be safe of you to assume that the first entry in the franchise will be touched on momentarily.
Here in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), its array of characters (voiced by an endlessly talented cast) perform their hearts out via careful vocal intonations and delivery of dialogue. It’s hard to argue that too many stars in particular stood out, but everyone’s hilarious efforts are nonetheless worth noting.
5 Kingsman: The Golden Circle
In this action-comedy sequel, Channing Tatum appears as a character named Tequila. He’s part of a drug cartel here in Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) — a group of which is led by Julianne Moore’s character Poppy Adams. Of course, regarding Tatum’s character: Tequila is a codename of sorts — as is Whiskey, the name of Pedro Pascal’s character on the same side of operations.
This entry in the Kingsman franchise does feature a particular paucity of creativity that rendered its predecessor so fresh and original, but it should provide casual film fans with some good laughs and fun spectacles nonetheless. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s definitely worth checking out — although, if you’re planning on watching the third entry The King’s Man (2021), just know that there’s much less to write home about in that respect from a perspective of sheer quality. Stick to the first two.
4 The Lego Movie
In this blockbuster animated film based on the line of building toys of the same name, The Lego Movie (2014) follows a roster of sentient Lego figurines that are all played by a star-studded cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman for example. Much like the argument with the sequel, it’s hard to make a true case that anyone in particular stood out among this cast.
But they all flowed so well while also standing out as recognizable, and in the end, that’s a salient element to note — general character rapport — when analyzing the overall quality of The Lego Movie. There’s a reason it holds a 96% approval rating on consensus review website Rotten Tomatoes.
3 22 Jump Street
A sequel to a film that has yet to be touched on, this is basically on the same caliber as the original in terms of quality of the overall project. However, considering it was more or less the same formula in terms of story structure, a lot of the spontaneity and unpredictability of his character were essentially thrown out the window.
He and costar Jonah Hill still nailed their roles in 22 Jump Street (2014) as undercover cops trying to infiltrate a drug operation within a local college. They share the same chemistry that was present in the original film, and along with costars like Ice Cube, every actor performs here to a valiant degree when analyzing the film from a particularly humorous perspective. And honestly, Tatum could very well have been the funniest part of the film — the same can be said for the first film from a couple of years prior, but of course, more on that in a bit.
2 This is the End
This is about as “cameo” as appearances can get, but Channing Tatum stole his featured scene in This is the End (2013), and perhaps the final act as a whole. There’s an argument that 22 Jump Street (2014) should’ve come out with this penultimate spot, but his character had a slight dip in charm and humor from the first entry of the series. Here, he shows up amid a cast of nearly every famous comedy actor that Hollywood has to offer. They all play themselves, attending a party at James Franco’s abode in Hollywood when suddenly, the end of the world ensues.
Toward the end of the film, the three remaining characters of primary order plan to escape to Malibu, but on their way, they run into Danny McBride and his newfound cult of cannibals. And in a rather disturbing role, Tatum appears as himself, except in this alternative, apocalyptic setting, he’s now Danny’s sex slave. His revealing himself with a leash around his neck and mask over his face was hilarious off the bat, and although he disappeared from the film entirely just a couple of minutes later, there’s no way you can forget Tatum’s part.
1 21 Jump Street
Originally known for portraying imposing athletes and charismatic love interests, Tatum broke the typecasting mold here with 21 Jump Street (2012), adapted from a television show of the same name that aired from 1987 to 1991. And sure, Tatum’s main character (well, co-main alongside Jonah Hill) definitely fits the aforementioned molds of charisma and athleticism, but this was the first true comedy of his career. And he passed with sidesplitting colors.
His dynamic with Jonah Hill made for perhaps the best and most memorable buddy-cop movie of the twenty-first century, as Hill fits all the opposite physical characteristics of Tatum. He’s a tremendous foil, in other words, and by the end of the film, though, their roles had sort of switched. Again: sort of. They grew to accept each other and learned to adopt their different styles and approaches to their job. It’s well-made, but mostly, it’s flat-out hilarious, and comes out on top as Channing Tatum’s funniest role of the 2010s.
