10 Movie Performances Way Better Than They Had Any Right To Be

9. Channing Tatum - Magic Mike

Why It Shouldn't Have Worked

Magic Mike is a film about male strippers, featuring highly-choreographed dance sequences starring an actor who was mostly known for teen movies and an unfortunate number of stinkers.

It sounds cruel now, but Channing Tatum was hardly the kind of actor who you'd look at and expect depth. His casting HAD TO have been down to his past as a dancer and the way he looked... right?

But Then...

Wrong, my friends. Channing Tatum is the reason Magic Mike works so well. He brought humanity and heart and real complexity to his performance that was as unexpected as the dance sequences are exhilarating. And thank God for that, because his co-lead, Alex Pettyfer, is nowhere near as good.