Channing Tatum Says He's ‘Done’ with ‘Magic Mike’: ‘I'd Only Come Back for 'Grumpy Old Strippers’'

The actor and best-selling author just released his third children’s book 'The One and Only Sparkella and the Big Lie'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 01: Channing Tatum poses for a photo before he signs copies of his new children's book "The One and Only Sparkella Makes A Plan" at Barnes & Noble at The Grove on June 01, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for ABA)
Photo:

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Channing Tatum is one busy guy.

Between acting, producing, directing and being a best-selling author — he just released his third children’s book, The One and Only Sparkella and the Big Lie — the star, 43, has decided to take the summer off. “I've been working for almost two and a half years straight,” he tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.

With plans for “some really fun vacations,” Tatum will also cheer on his daughter Everly, 10, whom he shares with ex-wife Jenna Dewan, at her Irish dance competitions and hopes to take her to friend Taylor Swift’s concert when the singer comes to L.A.

Tatum reads his new children's book to kids.
Tatum reads his new children's book to a group of kids outside Books are Magic bookstore in Brooklyn, New York on May 30.

Arturo Holmes/Getty

“My daughter listened to nothing but Celtic Irish music, anything that felt magical and folk-lorey," he says. "But she started to branch out and now we do T-Swifty on the morning rides. We're in a very hardcore Taylor Swift mode right now.”

While he stars in the upcoming film Pussy Island, directed by girlfriend Zoë Kravitz, Tatum says he has no plans to return to his role of Magic Mike after Magic Mike’s Last Dance premiered in February. “I am done. We did it all,” he insists. “We chewed all the meat off the bone on that one. There's nothing left to do.”

Magic Mike's Last Dance
Tatum and Salma Hayek star in 'Magic Mike's Last Dance'.

Warner Brothers

So no Magic Mike Grandpa in the future? “That would be the only thing I would come back for, Grumpy Old Strippers,” he says, laughing. “Like Grumpy Old Men: Septuagenarian Strippers.”

Inspired by Everly, Tatum’s children’s book series, illustrated by Kim Barnes, is about a little girl named Sparkella as she anxiously starts her first day at school and then how she manages emotions when her expectations aren’t met. The third book follows her as she tries to befriend the cool new kid at school, but has to learn the value of being honest when she "borrows" another friend's toy to do it.

channing tatum book sparkella and the big lie

“I usually always kind of connect it to something that I went through with Evie so I can understand at least the emotional journey of it,” Tatum says.

As for being a best-selling author, “I would love to go to every single English teacher that I've ever had,” he adds. “I was the last person in however many years they've been a teacher that they would have ever thought would be.”

The One and Only Sparkella and the Big Lie is available now.

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