Channing Tatum Bombed 'Thor' Audition by Moving Around Too Much, Then He 'Spent Five Years Trying to Learn Stillness': 'I Didn't Really Want to Be Thor' Zack SharfSeptember 4, 2025 at 12:39 AM 0 Getty Images Channing Tatum is finally a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after debuting as Gambit...
- - Channing Tatum Bombed 'Thor' Audition by Moving Around Too Much, Then He 'Spent Five Years Trying to Learn Stillness': 'I Didn't Really Want to Be Thor'
Zack SharfSeptember 4, 2025 at 12:39 AM
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Channing Tatum is finally a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after debuting as Gambit in "Deadpool and Wolverine," but it turns out he tried to enter the mega-franchise years earlier as Thor. In his latest Variety cover story, Tatum opened up about bombing his audition to play the God of Thunder in Kenneth Branagh's 2011 superhero movie.
"I didn't really want to be Thor," Tatum admitted. "But I wanted to audition in front of Kenneth Branagh."
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The audition itself did not go well. As Tatum explained: "After I did one take, [Branagh] was like, 'You're not allowed to move. Put your hands on this chair.' And I froze. He nailed my crutch. I spent the next five years really trying to learn stillness."
Chris Hemsworth would ultimately win the part of Thor, with Tatum moving on to develop a Gambit movie at 20th Century Fox as part of the studio's "X-Men" franchise. Gambit was always Tatum's passion when it came to superheroes. The movie had multiple fits and starts over the years. It was once dated for an October 2016 release before a script overhaul delayed the project. Variety reported in November 2017 that Lizzie Caplan had boarded the movie as the female lead. It still never got off the ground and ultimately collapsed when Disney bought Fox.
Tatum told Variety in 2022 that he ended up "traumatized" after spending years trying to make a Gambit movie only for the project to be axed, adding: "I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven't been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him."
Fortunately for Tatum, he finally got the chance to play Gambit on the big screen thanks to his surprise role in last year's Marvel blockbuster "Deadpool and Wolverine." Tatum took to social media amid the film's release to share an emotional statement on finally getting the chance to play Gambit.
"I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But [Reynolds] fought for me and Gambit," he wrote at the time. "I will owe him probably forever. Cause I'm not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy…I'm so grateful to be in this movie. It's a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure bad ass joy. I was literally screaming in the theater."
In a full circle moment, Tatum's Gambit and Hemsworth's Thor are now joining forces in the Marvel tentpole "Avengers: Doomsday." The project is set to hit theaters Dec. 18, 2026.
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