Alexy Pettyfer reveals the behind the scenes drama on set of Magic Mike.
Alex Pettyfer stopped by Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast to clarify some of the rumors about his past. Pettyfer revealed that he did not, as was reported, burn his house down or have a breakdown on set when he found out he wasn’t getting paid as much as his co-stars. But he says that rumors that he and his Magic Mike co-star Channing Tatum did not get along on set are true.
“Channing Tatum does not like me,” says Pettyfer. “For many reasons. Many being my own fault.”
Pettyfer goes on to explain that after reports of being a bad boy spread across Hollywood, including some of the incidents previous mentioned, he was approached by Steven Soderbergh to star in Magic Mike. Even though Soderberg wanted to cast him, Pettyfer thinks Channing Tatum, who had invested his own money into the movie, saw casting Pettyfer as a huge business risk.
“I had a very negative past relating to the things that I had done on movies and promotion of movies. And Channing Tatum is an extraordinarily smart businessman,” says Pettyfer. “I think he probably didn’t want to get into a conflict with Steven and so I was cast.”
Pettyfer became standoffish with Channing Tatum, once they started working together.
“I didn’t speak on the movie [set]. I was scared to speak,” he says. “I did my work and then I sat in the corner and listened to music because I’d been told that anything I do was wrong by my reps and I was very insecure as a human being. That also gave me a bad rep because they said, ‘Oh Alex thinks he’s f—ing better than everybody else because he doesn’t speak to anyone.’ And that’s not true. I was genuinely nervous and scared to be myself.”
After the movie finished filming, he rented an apartment in NYC owned by a friend of Chaning Tatum, but he left shortly after arriving, aruing that there was terrible mold and dust which made it difficult for him to breathe. After he left, he still owed four months of back rent, which he realizes now, he should have paid. But, Pettyfer says his cousin’s death made him forget to pay the rent.
He adds: “I all of a sudden got a very negative email from Channing, rightfully so, saying, ‘Don’t f— my friends. You owe money. Pay the f—ing money. Don’t be a clown.’ ”
He says he started ignoring Tatum and decided not to pay them.
“By the end of it I just basically said, ‘F— them. What is money when life is so much more?’ and, ‘I’m not dealing with this, and I’m not paying,’ ” says Pettyfer. “I should have just paid. I think he was looking for an excuse to not like me.”
When the cast had to return to the Magic Mike set for reshoots, “[Channing] had already told everyone he didn’t like me,” he explains. “And what Channing says goes because he’s a movie star. He’s incredible. He’s done so well for himself.”
Pettyfer revealed that he was not asked back to return on the Magic Mike XXL sequel.
You can listen to the full interview here:
