Channing Tatum talks ‘Roofman’ shower scene mishap with Peter Dinklage

Channing Tatum put his (naked) body on the line for his new movie, Roofman.

In one standout scene, Tatum’s character, Jeff, an escaped convict secretly living in a Toys “R” Us, gets caught showering in the store after hours by its manager, Mitch, played by Peter Dinklage.

Completely nude and covered in suds, Jeff makes a run for his secret hideaway in the store, clumsily vaulting himself over a toy rack and makeshift wall to do so. Tatum let it all hang out for the scene and hurt himself in the process.

“I mean, it wasn’t great, because I’m butt naked, so I can’t wear pads or anything,” Tatum tells Entertainment Weekly. “So I was wet and soapy, and it was just a messy scene. I did actually get hurt jumping up onto the bike rack, and then I had to do the funny jump into my little hideaway. I didn’t make it over the edge of the hideaway, and I gashed my [leg]. I still have a scar from it on my leg, and we just had to glue it together and keep going.”

Despite all that, Tatum says the injury isn’t what he remembers most about that sequence. “I think the most memorable thing, though, is looking at Derek [Cianfrance, the director] and going, ‘How are we shooting this? Because at any angle, you’re going to see stuff,'” he recalls, laughing at the thought. “And he’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to figure it out.’ And I’m like, ‘What’s figure it out mean? Because you’re right behind me as I’m jumping up on the thing. You’re going to be right down the barrel.'”

In the end, he’s still not exactly sure what magic Cianfrance conjured so that the audience doesn’t see Tatum in all his glory. “I think they had to paint some stuff out. And I don’t actually know how that happened. I think there was some… they had to figure out what to do with certain things,” he says.

Cianfrance never had any doubt that Tatum could pull it all off, though. “Here’s the guy who’s made biopics of his life as a stripper,” the director says, referring to Tatum’s Magic Mike films. “And I knew how brave he was. I knew how courageous he was as a performer.”

Cianfrance continues, “And he consented to that. So the moment when Peter comes out of the break room and sees Channing — the first time Peter ever saw Channing Tatum in real life, it was the full Monty. That’s how they were introduced to each other. I think they have a bond now. I think their bond is forged in fire.”

Recounting his side of the introduction, Tatum says, “I’m like, ‘Hello, Mr. Dinklage. I’m Channing. We’re going to have an experience today.’ But he’s such a man. He is a legend. He’s an absolute legend.”

Based on the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, dubbed “Roofman” in the press for his penchant for robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, the movie also stars Juno Temple, LaKeith Stanfield, Ben Mendelsohn, and Uzo Aduba. Roofman is now in theaters.