REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’ Releases on DVD in Germany and Switzerland

I want to remind Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in Germany and Switzerland that his world-wide dance hit ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ was just released on DVD in both of your countries.

Germany actually has its own official site where fans can learn even more about the movie and the DVD and BluRay release. You can also buy ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ on Germany’s version of Amazon.com.

Fans in Switzerland can get more info on the DVD release in your country on the Swiss DVD site DVDOne.ch.

What’s next for ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘? The film will next release on DVD in Poland on September 8, 2008 and the Czech Republic on September 29, 2008.

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Stop-Loss’ Premieres in New Zealand

I want to remind all of Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in the New Zealand that his drama ‘Stop-Loss‘ just premiered in your country!!! Fans can go to the movie’s official website for New Zealand to watch the trailer and get more details about the film.

What’s up next? ‘Stop-Loss‘ will be released on DVD in the Japan on October 3, 2008. (Thanks to Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan Faith in Japan for letting me know about the upcoming release!)

Jenna Dewan’s New ‘Magdalena’ Interviews from MTV’s Splash Page

One of the things that Channing Tatum’s longtime girlfriend Jenna Dewan and I talked about when I saw her last was how excited she is about her newly announced role of comic book heroin Magdalena.

It’s a dream project for the humble actress who fell in love with the idea of the film quickly and is very hopeful that fans will respond to it well.

To get fans familiar with ‘Magdalena‘ way ahead of time, the film’s production team is doing a lot of pre-promotion, even before the script is done. I was excited to see that MTV’s Spash Page now has a week long series on Jenna’s new film.

Fans can read the first two articles and watch the video interviews below:

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This week is “Magdalena Week” here at Splash Page. Each day we’ll be giving you an exclusive look at “Magdalena,” the upcoming big-budget adaptation of the Top Cow comic book starring Jenna Dewan and Luke Goss. Today, learn about the character and where the film will diverge from its source material.

Before Wonder Woman, or Red Sonja, before She-Ra or She-Hulk, one female comic book super hero is going to make it to the big-screen to kick butt and take names, to thwart evil and kill the wicked.

And she’s gonna do it all in Jesus’s name (Amen).

Well, sort of, laughed recently cast Jenna Dewan, the actress set to fill the giant shoes — and monster lineage — of Patience, the holy warrior protagonist of the upcoming comic flick “Magdalena.”

Wait, who?

Wielder of the mighty Spear of Destiny, the Magdalena refers to any of a number of distant descendents of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene who fight on behalf of the church. Thanks to her bloodline, she possesses preternatural fighting abilities and (quite literally) sacred blood – think “The Da Vinci Code” crossed with “X-Men.”

In the comics, several Magdalenas throughout history are given stories. Conversations between Dewan and producer Gale Anne Hurd, however, have made it clear to the actress that the movie will more or less follow the comic origin of one Magdalena, Patience, the last in the long line of warriors and the current champion of the world.

“They’re going to follow that comic pretty closely,” Dewan said of the planned plotline.

In the comic story, Patience grows up in a nunnery before becoming a homeless runaway on the streets of NYC. When presented with her destiny, she’s initially hesitant, circumspect, rebellious. “She has this streak in her, a free spirit,” Dewan explained. All of which makes her the perfect fit for the film version of Magdalena, the 27-year-old former “Step-Up” star said.

“What’s interesting in the comic is that Patience is the only one that they mention who questions. She doesn’t just instantly go into ‘Oh, the Catholic Church is right and I know what I’m doing.’ She says I’m very strong in what I believe in, I believe people are doing bad things,” Dewan told MTV News. “I want to fight that because I feel like inside of me that’s what I want to do. But she doesn’t attach herself to any symbols or labels or anything like that.”

Avoiding labels is actually a big challenge for the filmmakers, Dewan confessed, given the heavily sacrilegious nature of the character. Solution? While the recently announced movie version of the heroine will certainly honor her heritage, it won’t necessarily focus as much on the religious aspects of the character, Dewan insisted.

“When I started this I said I didn’t want it to be a religious movie - the Catholic Church versus everyone else. I wanted it to be somebody who knows she has something inside bigger [than herself], this spiritual want to help people,” Dewan said. “That’s really what we’re focusing on - fighting the darkness for the light, rather than the Catholic Church and religion. There is that element of it but it’s more about fighting people who are evil in this world.”

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Yesterday, Jenna Dewan gave us the scoop on her upcoming comic book adaptation of “Magdalena,” the story of the butt-kicking last scion of Jesus, put on Earth to fight crime and preserve the innocent.

Maybe you hadn’t heard of “Magdalena” before this. Maybe that caused you to look her up elsewhere. Maybe that caused you to find this. It’s a costume that’ll send a million mouths a’drooling. So is the trashy, vampy, very revealing costume going to make its way to the film? Settle down, boys. The answer, unfortunately, is no.

“I think the goal of this movie – we don’t want to do ‘Catwoman.’ I don’t think I’ll be walking the street in a thong and leather chaps,” Dewan said, laughing. “That’s not gonna happen.”

It’s as if millions of fans cried out in horror, and were suddenly silenced.

But all is not lost, Dewan said. While she won’t be wearing a thong and leather chaps, the costume WILL still be quite sexy, she insisted, telling MTV News that the ultimate version will be some kind of compromise.

“We’ll be making a sort of blend. We want it to be more based in reality, more ‘Matrix’-y. Not necessarily superhero,” Dewan said. “[But] I probably will have a flavor of the comic counterpart. In my personal opinion I like movies that touch on that.”

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Congrats again to Jenna on this awesome new role! This world can definitely use another heroine, and I can’t wait to see her kicking butt and taking names. Stay tuned to Channing Tatum Unwrapped, and I’ll make sure to post the rest of the MTV Splash Page interviews later this week.

Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan Spotlight

In an effort to help CTU readers learn more about each other, once a month I profile one special Channing Tatum fan on the blog and give them the “Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan Spotlight” award.

I am excited to announce that this month’s Channing Tatum Unwrapped Fab Fan Spotlight is dedicated to Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan Erin from Boston, Massachusetts.

Here is what you should know about Erin:

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Name and Nicknames:
Erin, Erina, Erinity, Erin Boerin

Hometown:
Boston

State:
Massachusetts

Age:
16

Social Network:
[MySpace]

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Favorite Channing Tatum Picture and Why?:

Okay I know it’s not exactly a photo but it originally it was. For some reason I usually end up liking Brad’s drawings more than the original pictures …no there is a reason, because they are so awesome lol. This is my favorite picture of Chan, because for one, he has his goatee, and I always think facial hair makes him look even more gorgeous. Secondly, it shows his gorgeous smile and his tongue that always seems to be poking through lol. A large reason why I like this picture though is the glasses. They’re the first thing that my eyes are drawn to, probably because his eyes are underneath them…yes Channing’s eyes always seem to draw mine to his. Then there is his great style which he shows off with the scarf, his great hair, and adorable lines from his smile….am I missing anything? Yep, that’s why I love this picture. ☺

Favorite Channing Tatum Movie and Why?:

‘SHE’S THE MAN‘! When I got this movie, I watched it over and over and over for a week, eventually watched it with commentaries just to switch it up a bit. My parents were so sick of hearing it they were ready to break the dvd in half lol, but luckily they didn’t. ☺ It’s just a funny movie and has the cute lil romance factor weaved in. And of course Chan does an amazing job in it, plays the part perfectly. His shirt is off 50% of the movie, doesn’t get better than that.

Favorite Channing Tatum Scene and Why?:

This is a toughy because I don’t have a favorite scene. There’s always the trunk scene from ‘Stop-Loss‘…just kidding. I really like the scene from ‘She’s the Man‘ where Chan and Amanda are lying on their beds having a heart to heart conversation, I thought it was very cute.

Favorite Channing Tatum Movie Quote and Why?:

I don’t know if this is my favorite quote or not but all I know is that I say it all the time lol. In ‘She’s the Man‘ after the carnival Sebastian (Amanda) sees that Duke’s nose is bleeding and says, ‘oh my god you’re hurt’ followed by…”I mean, suck it up, be a man and rub some dirt on it.” I think it’s funny, and then the look on Chan’s face when she says, ‘okay, I’ll rub some dirt in it…’ *sigh* love it. lol

Favorite Upcoming Channing Tatum Movie and Why?:

I’m really excited for ‘Dear John‘. I haven’t read the book yet, though I am planning to soon. However, I have read other books by Nicholas Sparks and really liked them. Chan in a romance movie…I can’t wait!!!

Have you ever met Channing?:

Nope, haven’t met Channing. And I don’t remember my dreams but I’m sure he’s still in there lol. I hope someday I will, that would be so awesome I can’t even explain. I would be ecstatic and probably speechless, yes speechless lol

Why are you a Fabulous Channing Tatum Fan?:

It started by just being an addict to his movies, and him too of course. I knew when I watched one it would lead to a Channing Tatum movie marathon lol. I was looking for videos of ‘She’s the Man‘ one day and what ya know, found this place. CTU is amazing, anything and everything out there related to Chan Q finds. I still can’t wrap my head around how she does it. There are not many official sites out there for actors, actresses, singers, you name it that are like CTU. Of course it helps that Chan is not like other celebrities and is completely down to earth and just an amazing guy. CTU led me to meeting truly great people, something that I never thought would happen when I first stumbled upon this place. I’ve even had a chance to meet friends that I met through CTU, who were just as amazing in person ☺. I plan on staying for quite some time, hope that’s okay with you Q. lol

Why does Channing Tatum Unwrapped think that this fan belongs in the Fab Fan Spotlight?

Erin has been a great addition to the CTU family and has been heavily involved in the site since she joined. It always makes me happy to know that fans go beyond just reading the articles and bond with other fans on the site through the chat box and the forums. I thank Erin for all of her support and it’s quite OK that you hang around for as long as you want!

Thanks Erin for letting me profile you and for taking the time to share all of your info with the other readers!

As the subject of the Fab Fan Spotlight, Erin is able to pick a custom-made poster of Channing Tatum courtesy of Channing Tatum Unwrapped! Erin’s Fab Fan Spotlight prize will be sent to her.

Finally, Erin’s Fab Fan Spotlight profile will soon be added on the right side of the blog so other Channing Fans can learn about her from any page. Feel free to send your congrats to Erin in the comments on this entry!

Do you want to be in the Fab Fan Spotlight? I will choose and interview readers who have contributed to the Channing Tatum Unwrapped and the Channing Tatum fan community by submitting Pictures of the Week, Videos of the Week, Comments, Graphics, etc. and/or by having groups, profiles, or sites that they made for Channing and his fans. I am currently choosing the next Fab Fan Spotlighter, so be on the lookout for an email from me requesting an interview and the next FFS might just be you!

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’ Releases on DVD in Italy

Although the theatrical releases have pretty much wrapped up around the world, there’s been a whole slew of DVD releases for Channing Tatum, Robert Hoffman, and Briana Evigan’s highly successful dance hit ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘.

On that note, I want to let Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in Italy know that ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ (aka ‘La Strada per Il Successo’) was just released on DVD in your country this past week. Fans can get more info on the Italian movie site MyMovies.it.

What’s next for ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘? The film will next release on DVD in Germany and Switzerland on September 4, 2008 and in Poland on September 8, 2008.

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Stop-Loss’ Releases on DVD in Germany and Austria

I want to remind all of Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in Germany and Austria that his critically-acclaimed Iraq war drama ‘Stop-Loss‘ was just released on DVD in your countries TODAY!!!

‘Stop-Loss‘ stars Channing Tatum, Ryan Phillippe, and Abbie Cornish and tells the tale of Iraq war hero and his best friend as they return to their small Texas hometown following a tour of duty. They try to rebuild their lives but soon realize that war changes everything.

What’s next for ‘Stop-Loss‘? Fans in New Zealand be on the lookout, because the movie will hit theaters in your country on September 4, 2008.

Channing Tatum Project Update: ‘Battle in Seattle’, ‘Public Enemies’, ‘G.I. Joe’ and More…

There’s been a lot of different things going on with Channing Tatum’s movies lately, so I thought that I would give fans a quick update.

Battle in Seattle

Channing’s upcoming drama ‘Battle In Seattle‘, where he plays a riot cop by the name of Johnson, was the talk of the Democratic National Convention yesterday when it was shown at the Impact Film Festival. The screening was held at at the Starz Film Room and was only open to the delegates at the Denver, Colorado-based political convention. Attendees were also able to take part in a Q&A with director Stuart Townsend and actress Charlize Theron after the movie.

Star-studded premieres are planned for BIS in mid- to late September in L.A., New York., and Sacramento. The movie will then premiere in the following growing list of cites on the dates listed below.

• September 19, 2008 - New York, San Rafael, San Fransisco, Minneapolis, and Seattle
• September 24, 2008 - Sacramento
• September 26, 2008 - Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.
• October 3, 2008- Plano, Philidephia, and Santa Barbara

Fans can CLICK HERE to buy tickets. If the movie is not currently scheduled to show in your city, make sure to keep demanding it. Rumor has it that if a city gets 200 demands, then the producers at Redwood Palms Pictures will try to bring the film to your city too.

The ‘Battle In Seattle‘ marketing team has been in high gear for a while and is currently adding fans to their update list. Its easy to join. All you have to do is e-mail their private account at youcontroltheworld@yahoo.com and put “Battle In Seattle” in the subject line. You don’t need to put any message in the body of the e-mail. Once they get your e-mail they will keep you up to date on all of ‘Battle In Seattle’s progress.

Based on one of the most incendiary political uprisings in a generation, ‘Battle In Seattle‘ takes an in-depth look at the five days that rocked the world in 1999 as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest on the World Trade Organization. What began as a peaceful protest intended to stop the WTO talks quickly escalated into a full-scale riot and eventual State of Emergency that squared off the protesters against the Seattle Police Department and the National Guard.

Fans can CLICK HERE to download the free trailer from ITunes.

Public Enemies

A journalist who played as as extra in Channing Tatum’s 2009 drama ‘Public Enemies‘, where Chan plays the doomed 1930’s bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd, recently gave us some new info on the release of the film.

It appears that there has been an official informational release sent to theaters from the studio to remind theater owners to reserve space next summer for the film. It confirms that the film will be released July 1, 2009. The reporter was told by inside sources that even though the film is still in the midst of editing, there will be enough cleaned up and pieced together footage for theater preview trailers to be ready for the Christmas holiday movie releases.

An adaptation of Brian Burrough’s book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43,” Channing’s film centers on the government’s attempt to stop John Dillinger and his gang. The star-studded cast also includes Johnny Depp who plays Dillinger and Christian Bale portrays the famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

G. I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Channing Tatum will play the lead role of Duke Hauser in what MTV has declared to be one of the most anticipated movies for summer of 2009, and I know that fans are definitely looking forward to seeing Chan flex his super hero chops in the big-budget, action film ‘G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra‘.

They wrapped filming in on the movie in the Czech Republic in June and not too long after one of the crew members posted his impressions of Channing one of the IMDB messages boards. If you want to get an idea of what it’s like to work with Channing on set, read below…

“So I did a little work on GI Joe, and I have to say it was really refreshing just how cool and unassuming Channing was. When you work with actors often, you come to expect a certain degree of self-absorption. They’re just a different breed in general–partially because they live in very different realities than the rest of the world. Channing was ALWAYS cool. He seemed like someone who knew he was in a fortunate position. He never dragged his feet coming to set, he insisted on taking care of himself, and usually had a smile on his face. Ray Park was the same way … absolutely gifted martial artist, and completely humble. For the sake of these two guys, I hope the movie does really well, as we need more personalities like theirs in the A-list.”

‘G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra‘ revolves around a European-based military unit known as Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity (G.I.J.O.E.), which is a hi-tech, international force of special operatives that takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.’G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra‘ is currently scheduled to hit US theaters on August 7th, 2009.

Pinkville

Channing was scheduled to start filming Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone’s ‘Pinkville‘ last November until the production was derailed by the writer’s strike. I’m now hearing from multiple sources that the film may be back on sooner rather than later. Right now, this is just rumor, but if it turns out to be true, they will most likely have to recast some roles depending on which actors are available.

‘Pinkville‘ is a drama about the investigation of the tragic 1968 My Lai massacre that occurred during the Vietnam war. Channing was supposed to play real-life hero Hugh Thompson, a helicopter pilot who, upon realizing what was happening below, put a stop to the killing by placing his craft between gunmen and the few villagers who were left, and telling his two shipmates to fire on the soldiers if they shot any more people. They airlifted the survivors and reported the carnage to superiors.

What’s Next for Channing Tatum

Channing is scheduled to start filming his romantic drama ‘Dear John‘ next month in South Carolina, his movie ‘Fighting‘ will be released in January 2009, and his movie ‘Parkour‘ will start filming early next year. Fans can CLICK HERE to get a complete list of Channing’s past, current, and future films and watch their trailers.

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’ Premieres in Spain!!!

After having it’s initial premiere in the states way back in February, Channing Tatum’s extremely successful sequel to his 2006 hit ‘Step Up‘ is finally having one of its last theatrical releases around the world.

I want to let Chan’s Fabulous Fans in Spain know that his film ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ has now premiered in your country, where it is actually known as ‘Street Dance‘.

The film will be showing in numerous Spanish cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, and Sevilla.

Fans can go to the Spanish Yahoo movie website to get more details on the film and to get information on theaters, show dates, and times.

Fans can also check out the Spanish trailer below:

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Stop-Loss’ Releases on DVD in the UK

I want to remind all of Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in the UK that his critically-acclaimed Iraq war drama ‘Stop-Loss‘ was just released on DVD in your country YESTERDAY!!!

To celebrate the DVD release of ‘Stop-Loss‘, MTV is giving UK fans a chance to win a widescreen TV with surround sound and a DVD player!!!

‘Stop-Loss‘ stars Channing Tatum, Ryan Phillippe, and Abbie Cornish and tells the tale of Iraq war hero and his best friend as they return to their small Texas hometown following a tour of duty. They try to rebuild their lives but soon realize that war changes everything.

UK fans can CLICK HERE to answer a really easy question so you can enter the contest.

What’s next for ‘Stop-Loss‘? Fans in Germany be on the lookout, because the movie will be released on DVD in your country on August 28, 2008.

CHANNING TATUM VIDEOS OF THE WEEK: 2008 Teen Choice Awards & Jenna Dewan E! Interview

Today’s Videos of the Week were submitted by Fabulous Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Fans Naz from London and Tina from the Phillippines.

Naz has submitted the first video which features Channing Tatum’s interview in the press room after he won the Choice Dramatic Actor Award for his role in ‘Stop-Loss‘ at this year’s 2008 Teen Choice Awards. In the video, Chan talks about surfing, dancing and the biggest challenge for kids today. Enjoy!

Tina taped and submitted the next video which shows a recent interview that Chan’s girlfriend Jenna Dewan did for E! Television when she was promoting her highly successful Lifetime Television movie ‘Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal‘. It’s a cute interview that shows Jenna teaching dance to the kids at the Gabriella Charter School that recently awarded her with their Limelight Award. Enjoy!!!

If you have a favorite video that you would like me to consider, send a link to the video to votw@channingtatumunwrapped.com and tell me why you like it. I will post it and your explanation on the blog.

REMINDER: Channing Tatum’s ‘Stop-Loss’ Premieres in Australia

I want to remind all of Channing Tatum’s Fabulous Fans in the Australia that his drama ‘Stop-Loss‘ recently premiered in your country!!!

The film is playing in numerous cities across the country, so you can go to the Australian website Yahoo Movies to get theater locations and times.

Fans can watch the trailer below:

What’s up next? ‘Stop-Loss‘ will be released on DVD in the UK on August 18, 2008 and will have its next theatrical release in New Zealand on September 4, 2008.

CTU EXCLUSIVE: Learn About Channing Tatum Through the Eyes of His Mom Kay

If you’ve been reading CTU for a while, then you know it was a little over a year ago when I received a surprising and extremely sweet email from Channing Tatum’s mom Kay thanking me for the site and letting me know that the family read it to keep up with Chan’s career. It was so incredible, flattering, and unbelievable, and Kay even started sending in Pictures of the Week, baby photos, and exclusive info on Chan’s upcoming projects both before and after Chan made CTU his official site.

Through all of our emails over the past year, I’m glad to say that Kay and I formed a friendship, so one of the things I was most looking forward to on my recent trip to LA was to finally meet Chan’s family in person. As I write this post, it’s hard for me to stop smiling, because my day with Kay and my dinner with Chan and Jenna the next day were hands down my favorite parts of the trip. Teen Choice was awesome, but for me, what really made the trip was to be able to spend quality time with both old and new friends.

I’ll cover my dinner with Chan and Jenna tomorrow, but in today’s post, you all get to hear about my awesome day with Mama Kay…

On Sunday, I was getting ready for the Teen Choice Awards and realized that I had missed a call on my phone. Turns out, the message was from Kay and it was great to hear her adorable southern accent for the first time. With butterflies in my stomach, I called her right back so we could make plans for the next day. Once we started talking, the butterflies were replaced with total excitement, because like Channing, she has this ability to make you feel like you’ve known her forever. It obviously runs in the family, much like their gorgeous green eyes and their love of the simple life.

The next day Kay picked me up and it was so great to finally see her in person. We gave each other a big hug in the car and started what ended up being a 10 hour gab fest on Chan, his girlfriend Jenna Dewan (who they all rightfully ADORE by the way), his family, his career, my family, my life, the site…I think you get the point. We talked about everything, and I loved every second of it.

Sadly, Chan’s dad Glenn and his sister Paige were not able to join us. Glenn had promised to help a neighbor that day and Paige had to work. Even though Paige was not able to come with us, she used her connections at a local museum to get us passes to tour around and look at the exhibits while we talked. At one point, we realized that we were doing a lot more gabbing than looking, so we grabbed a snack at a café inside the museum and stayed there until they almost had to kick us out.

After the museum, we headed on over to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica to have dinner where (you guessed it) we talked some more and visited a local bookstore. I’m sure you’re all dying to know what we talked about for so long. To protect the innocent (or not so innocent in some cases), I can’t divulge everything, but I can share a few things I learned.

Chan’s family is very close, so his parents moved out from Florida to California a few years ago so they could be near Chan and his sister Paige. Growing up in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, Chan was an extremely active child who played and loved practically every sport, except basketball. Before the age of five Chan had had more stitches than his mom could count, but surprisingly has never broken a bone (knock on wood).

To channel all of his natural energy, Kay and Glenn enrolled Chan in karate when he was young. He was so good at it that he was able to earn his blackbelt by the age of 11. Kay also confirmed that Chan has some serious Gremlins when it comes to technology and that she’s personally seen a perfectly new Ipod plain outright refuse to work after Chan got a hold of it.

With the success that Channing has achieved in such a short period of time, it’s surprising to know that acting was not originally in the plan. Chan was hooked after he did his first international commercial for Pepsi where he plays a DJ in the famed Copacabana and has continued to hone his craft ever since then. He truly loves everything about it, immerses himself in it to learn everything that he can, is ready to flex his producing muscles with projects he has lined up, and is also writing a script with Jenna.

Not surprisingly, he’s a big old softy and Kay told me a cute story about how Chan wanted to do something special for director Anne Fletcher before he started filming ‘Step Up‘. He got it in his head that he wanted to make Anne a spirit stick for the first day of filming. Chan knew exactly what he wanted it to look like and described it to his parents so they could get everything he needed while he was in rehearsals for the movie.

Kay and Glenn being the supportive parents they are went around Baltimore finding all of the materials, but could not find the kind of stick that Chan really wanted. At some point, Chan saw what he thought would be the perfect stick on the banks of the Baltimore harbor. It was slimy and yucky, but after a bath in bleach, they are able to salvage this perfectly crooked piece of wood and make the spirit stick Chan wanted.

Chan has had a lot of great people in his life that have helped him get to where he is now. People like Sting’s wife and ‘A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints’ producer Trudie Styler who invited studio executives over to her house just to show them footage of Chan as Antonio in ‘Saints’ before the movie was even done, which put him on the path to getting his role in ‘Stop-Loss’.

Along the way, Chan also had a very supportive acting coach who believed in him so much, she trained him without taking payment. Once he got his first big paycheck, Chan not only paid her for all of the free classes, but he asked his mom to have a special quilt made with a phrase that the teacher often used embroidered on it and to stuff the quilt with the payment. Kay had the quilt made and she and Paige stuffed the money inside so Chan could deliver it to the teacher that supported both he and Jenna as their stars were rising.

For me, a person’s true character is what they do when people aren’t looking, so I really loved the stories that Kay was telling me, because they are one of the many examples of who Chan is as a person when the cameras are not rolling. With Chan and Jenna, what you see is what you get. They are the two most non-Hollywood celebrities that you will ever find. In today’s world, it’s refreshing to know that people like that do exist, and they have their family backing them up every step of the way.

Chan told me at Teen Choice the day before that he had a couple of meetings on Monday, but we would try to have dinner. While Kay and I were at dinner, he called his mom to apologize for not being able to meet us. Incredibly, his meetings had gone so well that day that he had a follow up meeting with a Hollywood screen legend that has written a script, is planning on directing it I believe, and is considering Chan for a role. When that kind of thing happens, it’s important that actors do their homework and learn as much as they can about the person they are going to meet with, so I completely understood why he could not come to dinner that night. Chan’s mom handed me the phone so I could talk to him and it was so cute to hear how excited he was about the potential role and meeting the well-established actor that you all would recognize in a heartbeat.

It’s always great to see how Chan is not jaded with this kind of stuff. Every new milestone is met with excitement, because he’s so humble about everything. Before we got off the phone, he said that we would try to meet with me the next day before I left, so I kept my fingers crossed.

After almost 10 hours and numerous phone calls from Glenn checking on Kay to make sure I had not kidnapped her (just kidding), Kay finally dropped me off back at my bestfriend’s house. It was really late, so Glenn called one more time to check on Kay, and he told her to thank me for everything I do here at CTU.

In Kay fashion, she tells him that he can tell me himself. She hands me the phone, and he proceeds to do just that. I was so surprised to hear his slight New Orleans accent and was touched by what he had to say. I’m warning you people right now, if Chan’s parents disappear one day, he should know exactly where to check. I’m not kidding when I say that if I had enough room in my suitcase for them to comfortably fit, they would have made an unplanned trip to Houston.

I can’t thank Kay enough for spending so much time with me, for sharing her stories and her family with me, and for letting me share mine with her. I truly treasured the entire day with my new friend. I saw a kindred spirit in her and fell in love with the fact that she’s such a proud mom and that Chan’s family is so supportive of him. That support definitely goes both ways, and I’m not surprised, because he learned from the best.

In my next and final post on my incredible trip to LA, you will get to hear all about my fabulous dinner with Channing Tatum and his girlfriend Jenna Dewan.

This is post #3 in a series of 4 articles about my trip. You can CLICK HERE to read the first article that recaps my visit with ‘Stop-Loss‘ director Kimberly Peirce, CLICK HERE to read all about my adventures at the Teen Choice Awards, and CLICK HERE to read all of the articles from my trip.

And don’t forget to CLICK HERE and skip to the end of the article to learn how to enter the most recent CTU contest where you can win a VIP pass autographed by Channing Tatum and the goody bag I received at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards last week.

CTU EXCLUSIVE: Channing Tatum and Girlfriend Jenna Dewan at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards

In the first of 4 articles recapping my 5-day trip to Los Angeles, California last week, you all learned about my awesome visit with ‘Stop-Loss’ director Kimberly Peirce.

Today’s post is all about my amazing experiences at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards on Sunday, August 3, 2008. Before the event, my best friend and I had breakfast at a popular Santa Monica farmer’s market, went home to get ready, and then took part in an age-old awards show tradition of getting my makeup done before we headed over to the venue.

As I mentioned before, getting tickets to this particular event is really difficult because of the popularity of it. In the end, I was able to get a ticket from my best friend’s company and 2008 Teen Choice Awards sponsor, Neutrogena. They had 65 tickets in total, and from what I understand, ten of them were VIP. Once we arrived, we had to meet up with the person who had what I thought was going to be my general admission ticket to the event. For whatever reason, when I opened the envelope, it had a VIP pass and ticket inside instead. Can’t even explain how excited I was!!!

You’re probably asking what is the difference between a General and a VIP ticket. Well, I now know that there’s a world of difference! The people with General tickets enter the venue from the front door and are restricted from entering in certain areas in the arena (generally the ones where celebrities are sitting or congregating).

On the other hand, VIP ticket holders get to enter the venue from a guarded back entrance with celebs, get to walk the red (blue in this case) carpet if you want, get to hang out with the celebs outside before they take their seats, get to go into the heavily-guarded pit-o-celebs at the foot of the stage where you all saw people sitting on the white couches on TV, and most importantly, get access to the ever-popular, goody-packed gifting retreat that you see Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan in with American Idol’s Randy Jackson on the right.

When we arrived, we decided to bypass the blue carpet. We figured the photographers would not be too interested in us no-celebs and decided to save us all a little embarrassment when their cameras would have gone silent as we made out way down the carpet.

Once we entered the outside backstage area, I started spotting stars like Minka Kelly form “Friday Night Lights”, Josh Duhamel from “Las Vegas”, Hayden Panettiere from “Heroes”, Mandy from the M&M Cru, Jon M. Chu and the entire ACDC crew, Selena Gomez from Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”, and the list goes on. It was like I was standing smack dab in the middle of an issue of US Weekly. I was loving every bit of it and still not believing my luck with the VIP pass!

Not knowing when Chan and Jenna would arrive, I decided to go inside the venue. I took a short video from my seat in the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal City to give you all an idea of the atmosphere of the event. You can check it out below:

Although there was a lot of activity, it took awhile for the show to actually start taping. In the meantime, I was able to star watch as the celebrities continued to arrive at the event and sit in the white couch area in front of the stage.

From Fergie to Will Smith and his kids to Zach Efron and Vanessa Hudchens to David Beckham, Posh, and their kids to the Gossip Girl cast to Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, the stars were showing up in droves and the fans in the audience were screaming for all of them like crazy.

If you even looked like you were going to say the words Miley or Jonas Brothers, the crowd erupted into eardrum-piercing screams. The energy in the room was insane and contagious!

The show finally began with Miley singing her new hit single ‘7 Things’, and I have to say that I was even singing along to it. It’s what happens when you have a 3 and an 8 year old that watch the Disney Channel 24/7.

Later on, Mariah Carey also performed her song “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” to the delight of the very excited crowd. How she did not fall in those insanely high yellow heels, I’ll never know, but the performance was great.

As I mentioned in a previous article, your hard work and votes helped Channing Tatum win Choice Dramatic Actor for ‘Stop-Loss‘ and helped his movie ‘Step Up 2: The Streets‘ win Choice Drama. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan’s M&M Cru also won the BIGGEST online dance battle known to mankind. Although we did not get Choice MySpacer, thanks to everyone who took the time to vote for all of the categories that Channing was nominated in, and as far as I’m concerned, 3 out of 4 is nothing to sneeze at!!!

During one of the commercial breaks, my magical VIP pass allowed me to cross the sea of stars sitting on the white couches to get to Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan. With Will Smith and his kids sitting in the couch in front of them and the Beckhams not far away on their right, I honestly felt like I was in an alter-world or something.

Chan saw me and bounced off the couch to give me a big hug and kiss on the cheek (I’m looking into how to preserve my face at this time). I was even more excited, because after emailing for months, I finally got to meet Jenna Dewan in person for the first time, and she gave me a big hug too. We did not get to talk all that long, because I had to return to my seat before the commercial break was over, but we did make plans to meet for dinner before I left LA (more on that in LA-recap post #4).

Later in the night, I made another venture into what I affectionately call the “Celeb Pit” to finally meet Jon M. Chu and Adam Sevani in person. Jon was awesome and very nice. And if you watched the “So You Think You Can Dance” finale this week, then you know that ‘Step Up’ and ‘Step Up 2′ executive producer Adam Shankman (who was also at Teen Choice) announced that Jon will return to direct ‘Step Up 3-D‘ and that Adam Sevani will also be starring in the film. I want to send out a huge congrats to both of them!!!

After the show, most of the celebs headed home or to other destinations, but before he left, Channing and numerous other celebrities at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards autographed Texas Instruments gear for City of Hope, a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. The autographed TI-Nspire graphing calculators will be given to patients at City of Hope for use in their math and science courses.

The rest of us walked to the show’s after party at a place called Jillian’s in Universal City. At the party, they gave away blue Teen Choice Awards cooler bags with swag from sponsors Dr. Pepper, Neutrogena, Fox, and more.

Although you all may not have been able to attend the event with Chan, Jenna, and I, one lucky CTU reader is not only going to be able to win the bag that you see me holding in the photo on the left, but I also had Channing autograph the all-important VIP pass that allowed me to rub elbows with the celebs at the event. It did not hit me until after I got home from LA that I should of had Jenna sign it too, but I promise I will not make that mistake again.

If you would like to win the exclusive, autographed VIP pass and 2008 Teen Choice Awards goody bag, then here’s what you need to do to enter the contest:

1) CLICK HERE to quickly signup for the Channing Tatum Unwrapped newsletter where you will get a daily email with any articles I have posted in the last 24 hours. If you don’t want to miss out on any juicy Channing Tatum and/or Jenna Dewan news, then the newsletter is the best way to go. If you are already subscribed to the newsletter, then you can skip to step #2.

2) Send me an email from the address you used to sign up for the newsletter to contests@channingtatumunwrapped.com with “Teen Choice” in the subject and your mailing address in the body of the email. I have another contest that will start in a few days, so it’s important that you have the correct subject on your email.

Each fan can enter the contest one time. Please do not submit multiple entries, because only your first submission will be used. The winner of the contest will be announced on this Saturday, August 16, 2008 (the 1 year anniversary of Channing Tatum making CTU his official site), so please submit your entries by the end of the day on Friday, August 15, 2008 to try to win the prize. Good luck everyone!!!!

I had an amazing time at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards. My only regret is that I completely forgot to go to the gifting retreat, and I heard that they had some really awesome swag in there. Let it be known that I will NOT make that mistake twice.

I know that Channing and Jenna have plenty more awards shows, premieres, and sets that they will be involved with for many years to come. If given the opportunity, I hope to be able to cover some of them too so I can share the experience with all of you. Well, that’s it for this show, but fans can CLICK HERE to check out tons of photos from the event.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post where I will recap my awesome day with Channing Tatum’s mom Kay. Yet another one I promise fan’s won’t want to miss.

CTU EXCLUSIVE: Hanging Out with ‘Stop-Loss’ Director Kimberly Peirce