Channing Tatum has said he still cringes over his first meeting with Matt Damon.
Tatum, 42, met Damon, 52, when filming Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film Haywire.
Speaking to People magazine, Tatum said he was “beside myself” when being introduced to The Bourne Supremacy who he met at a hotel bar in Albuquerque with Soderbergh.
The She’s The Man star was so nervous that he asked a regrettable question.
“I’m such a fan, and still am,” he recalled. “I sat down next to him, and I was like, ‘Hey man. Where are you from?’ – and I was like, ‘I just asked Matt Damon where he’s from.’”
Tatum said he was instantly embarrassed by the question given that Damon, alongside fellow actors Mark Wahlberg and Ben Affleck, are widely known to be from Boston.
“Everyone on the planet knows where Matt Damon is from, and he obviously knows that I know where Matt Damon is from, and I almost didn’t recover,” he said.
“I don’t think I said anything for the next maybe two hours or so, and I still think about it today. Every once in a while, I’ll just have a cold sweat and feel like, ‘I can’t believe....’”
Tatum said that Damon tried to make him feel comfortable after he asked the question.
“He knew I was freaking out and just didn’t even acknowledge it. Because he’s such a personable guy,” Tatum said.
“He just took care of me in that moment and answered me. It was like nothing ever happened. He was just like, ‘Oh, I’m from Boston. Where are you from?’ and I was like, ‘I’m from Florida.’ In my head I just kept screaming, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry!’”
Tatum explained that he tries to avoid meeting “people that I admire” because he can sometimes panic.
The actor went on to say that he and Damon are “friendly now”, adding that he “can kind of, sort of keep it together today”.
Tatum most recently starred in Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which is now in cinemas.
His co-star Salma Hayek Pinault recalled the “terrifying” rehearsal she had with Tatum for the film.
You can read The Independent’s two-star review of Magic Mike’s Last Dance here.
