[9][10] Tatum has discussed having dealt with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia while growing up, which affected his ability to do well in school.

[12] Tatum spent most of his teenage years in the Tampa area, where he initially attended Gaither High School.

Us Weekly reported that around this time Tatum left his job as a roofer and began working as a stripper at a local nightclub under the name "Chan Crawford".

In 2000, Tatum was first cast as a dancer in Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" music video,[3] after an audition in Orlando, Florida; he was paid $400 for the job.

He was cast by Al David for Vogue magazine and soon after appeared in campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Nautica, Dolce & Gabbana, American Eagle Outfitters, and Emporio Armani.

[18]In 2006, Tatum starred in She's The Man opposite Amanda Bynes, which was named "the greatest Shakespeare adaptation since '10 Things I Hate About You'" by Business Insider.

[19] Later that year, Tatum starred opposite his future wife Jenna Dewan in Step Up, which was his breakout role.

[21] Tatum and Dito Montiel, who worked together on A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, reteamed on the action drama Fighting for Rogue Pictures.

He next appeared in writer/director/producer Michael Mann's 2009 crime drama Public Enemies, playing the 1930s American gangster Pretty Boy Floyd.

Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Paramount Pictures' live-action film based on the popular Hasbro action figures.

He co-starred in Steven Soderbergh's action-thriller Haywire, The Vow with Rachel McAdams, and 21 Jump Street (film adaptation of TV series of the same name) with Jonah Hill.

He is a featured performer at a Tampa, Florida, male strip club who takes a younger dancer (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing to show him how to hustle "on and off stage".

[39] The same year, he starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the Paramount Pictures romantic action adventure film The Lost City.

[43][44] In October 2012, Tatum and a friend opened the Saints and Sinners burlesque-themed restaurant and bar in New Orleans, which remained in business ten years later.

[53] In October 2023, Tatum signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire during the Israel–Hamas war.

[54] In 2006, Tatum met actress Jenna Dewan on the set of their film Step Up, and they married on July 11, 2009, in Malibu, California.

[59] In a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair, Tatum questioned whether he would ever remarry, though said his divorce prompted self-improvement, including a strong relationship with his daughter.