Our boy C-Tates had said he wanted to play Gambit as early as September 2013, and X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner has now confirmed his casting at the X-Men: Days of Future Past premiere. No matter how you feel about his casting as Gambit, I’d like to think Channing Tatum owes a lot of his success to Burnsy’s White House Down storyboards. You’re welcome, C-Tates. (*celebratory thrusting*)
Donner, speaking with TotalFilm:
DONNER: [discussing upcoming projects] …We love X-Force, it allows to be a little grittier. And Gambit.
INTERVIEWER: So what do you have in mind for an actor? Because I know Channing Tatum had expressed interest…
DONNER: It is Channing.
INTERVIEWER: So that’s confirmed?
DONNER: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: And what is it about him that you think would make him a good Gambit?
DONNER: Well, you know he’s a rogue, Channing, he’s a rascal. Just like Remy LeBeau. And he can handle the action, we all know that. And he’s got a really good heart. I know him personally, I did a movie with him. So I think he’ll be great for Gambit. And he’s a Southerner too. He’s not from New Orleans, but he’s a Southerner and he understands that world.
A good heart? That’s the least of his qualities. He’s also got hips that don’t lie, abs you could bounce a trout off of, a come-hither squint that could melt an Eskimo’s igloo, and a mouth of the finest marbles. Aw, yeah, girl, tell your brother to quit bogarting my X-Box or whatever.
We know he’ll be great, because as we all know, Channing Tatum’s dad is kind of from Louisiana ish. I just hope that he hasn’t been staring at a bust of Taylor Kitsch for inspiration.
And here’s C-Tates talking about Gambit back in September.
“No knock on Taylor Kitsch, dog, cause I actually liked his Gambit, but… I’ve always lived in and around the Cajun people, boy, and… I would’ve liked to have seen a little bit, like… Gambit was always the woman-lovin, cigarette-smokin’, drinkin… he was the punk rock of superheroes. He was a thief. He kind of rode the line.”