Even if it is just a ploy to shoehorn another pandering award to a popular young star, I kind of dig the MTV's Trailblazer Award as a general concept. It's kind of the opposite of a lifetime achievement honor, reserved for actors or actresses of a young age whose work paves the way for others in the industry. And the first two annual recipients were women, which is nice (Emma Stone in 2012 and Emma Watson in 2013). This year the honor is going to a dude for the first time: Channing Tatum.
Tatume is “the quintessential leading man for the MTV audience,” MTV President Stephen Friedman said. “He proves that an action hero can have both a quick wit and a large heart. Whether he's baring his soul in 'The Vow,' his chest in 'Magic Mike,' or his humor in '21 Jump Street,' Channing proves that by committing everything, you can accomplish everything.”
Fancy praise. But fair enough. Tatum really turned his career in a fascinating direction when it was starting to look like he'd just be the vanilla “G.I. Joe”-type brah and he's shown himself to be a jack of all trades. He can make an impact briefly, too, as we saw in last year's “This is the End.” His roles just this year show an incredible range, whether the comedy sequel “22 Jump Street,” the Wachowski sci-fi “Jupiter Ascending” or the prestige/potential awards player “Foxcatcher” from director Bennett Miller.
Tatum already has a pretty impressive tally of 11 MTV Movie Awards nominations. He has not, however, won a golden popcorn statue to date.
The Trailblazer Award will be presented by Tatum's “Jupiter Ascending” co-star Mila Kunis during the 2014 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, April 13 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Conan O'Brien will host the show. “American Hustle” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” led the nominations and Tatum himself was nominated twice, for Best Hero in “White House Down” and Best WTF Moment with Danny McBride for the aforementioned cameo in “This is the End.”
Previously announced, Mark Wahlberg will receive this year's MTV Generation Award.