Channing Tatum has never been shy when it comes to baring a little skin. But for his latest film Roofman, he’s stripped away the Magic Mike glamour and taken things to a new, sudsy extreme. Gone are the flashing lights and dollar bills—this time, he’s sprinting butt-naked and slippery through a Toys “R” Us. Yes, really.
The movie, which hit theaters on October 10, is based on the wild true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a convicted felon who escaped prison and secretly lived inside the ceiling of a North Carolina Toys “R” Us for six months. In the film, Tatum plays the title role, giving “living rent-free” an entirely new meaning. But the scene that has everyone talking? The one where he’s caught mid-shower by Peter Dinklage (playing the store manager), sparking a chaotic naked chase through the aisles of plastic ponies and Nerf guns.
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Tatum, ever the professional, committed to the bit—but even he admitted the experience was mortifying. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he confessed it was his “worst nightmare come true.”
@fallontonight Running around naked on the set of Roofman was @Channing Tatum’s “worst nightmare” 😭 #FallonTonight #TonightShow #ChanningTatum #JimmyFallon
“It doesn’t matter how confident you are,” Tatum said with a bashful grin, “it’s still pretty embarrassing to be running around completely naked in front of a crew of fully clothed people.” He added, “Usually I have a thong on, or underwear, or a sock, or something. This one? Nope. I show up on the day and I’m like, ‘So how are we gonna film this?’ And the director goes, ‘We’ll figure it out.’”
Spoiler: they did not, in fact, figure it out right away.
The actor described one particular moment when things got a little too close for comfort. “I had to jump up onto a bike rack,” he laughed. “The camera’s right there. Like, right down the proverbial barrel.”
ROOFMAN is an entertaining, based-on-a-true-story dark comedy that is fueled by an uncomfortable underlying tension throughout. Channing Tatum & Kirsten Dunst deliver strong, convincing performances alongside a solid ensemble of Stanfield, Mendelsohn, Aduba, Dinklage, and Temple pic.twitter.com/12gZhBlGP0
— Tony Mosello (@MoselloATC) October 9, 2025
Apparently, the experience was so surreal that Tatum says he “dissociated throughout the day.” Which, to be fair, sounds like the only logical coping mechanism when you’re naked, wet, and trying not to slip on a toy truck in front of Peter Dinklage.
@2wents I really like this scene from Channing Tatum’s 2025 movie Roofman. The lyrics are perfect. #channingtatum #roofman #heelys #free #ultranate
And just when he thought the ordeal was over, the director, Derek Cianfrance, called him after wrapping the movie with one final (and slightly terrifying) question: “So what do you want me to do with it?”
Tatum recalls his panic: “I was like, ‘What is it?’ And he goes, ‘You know, it. Do you want me to blur it out?’”
After a long pause, Channing reportedly said, “‘Just make it not look weird, man. Don’t make this NC-17.’”
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Whether or not the editing team succeeded in that noble mission is up for you to find out—Roofman is still in theaters. But one thing’s clear: Channing Tatum deserves an award for dedication.
It takes guts (and apparently no pants) to fully commit to a role, and Tatum’s willing to bare it all—literally—for the sake of his craft. So the next time someone says acting is easy, remind them that somewhere out there, Channing Tatum once had to sprint naked through a toy store while trying to look cinematic.
Now that’s method acting
“Everyone’s worst nightmare!”
Poor guy, having bad dreams all the way to the bank.