Look back at Channing Tatum in 'She's The Man'

Congratulations are in order for Channing Tatum. He’s got his likely summer blockbuster, White House Down, opening today; he’s been killing it on the press front (Channing all over your Tatum is now a real-life phrase. Congratulations!) and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a kid more than watching him adorably dance with co-star Joey King on Good Morning America. But he wasn’t always such an A-list stud (Or, more accurately, A-list; he was always a stud). Back in 2006, Tatum was best known for a little teen comedy called She’s the Man.

She’s the Man is, 100 percent unironically, one of my all-time favorite movies. I’m not saying it should have won an Oscar, but when it comes to a film I can watch over and over again, Amanda Bynes dressing up as a dude to prove that ladies are just as good at soccer as the boys, muttering weird catchphrases while her hot roommate/crush Duke (Tatum) parades around in a white tank top while school president David Cross — surely collecting a paycheck! — makes everyone uncomfortable is a romp that can even find the laugh lines in systemic gender inequality. Plus, the whole thing is based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Highbrow!

I’m bringing this movie up today because it’s where the White House Down star got his leading-role start (He’d previously had small parts in things like Coach Carter and Havoc). He may now have successfully moved on to bigger things, but I’ll never forget the sensitive hunk who fell in love with his roommate. Below, five incredible Tatum-specific moments from She’s the Man (and yes, many of them are shirtless). A star is born!

1) Bynes’ character Viola is pretending to be a guy, Sebastian, at a new school when she meets her new roommate Duke. He’s shirtless, she’s flustered, and the duo engage in an extended awkward convo about other uses for feminine hygiene products. You know, something two guys regularly do. This movie is the best.

Speaking as a completely objective third-party observer with absolutely no personal interest in the matter, if you’ve yet to ever rent this movie (it’s not on Netflix, sadly) consider this the sign/invitation you were looking for to couple She’s the Man with White House Down for one amazing, hilarious, and hunky double feature. To paraphrase Sebastian: It’s brilliant, shh!

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