Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill’s on and off-screen chemistry is undoubtedly the ingredient that made the 21 Jump Street movie franchise successful. The comedy-action film stars Tatum and Hill as Jenko and Schmidt, a pair of undercover cops in the guise of high school students.
The 2012 installment was a smashing hit, earning $201 million worldwide against a budget of $42 million, while the sequel 22 Jump Street grossed over $331 million globally, justifying its production cost of $84 million.
Channing Tatum Loves To Pull “Torture” Pranks On 21 Jump Street Co-Star Jonah Hill
In an interview with Conan on TBS, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill shared their off-screen antics in between takes. Hill, who is also credited as a writer in the film, revealed that his co-star loves to “torture” him on set. The host asked the actor to explain what kind of torture Tatum does. At the same breath, the Magic Mike XXL star grabbed Hill’s thigh, the latter saying:
“You’re witnessing it, and it sucks. I guess there’s some area above your knee before your thigh starts that just feels like a billion knives are crashing into you at the same time. And whenever he’s bored, he just squeezes this.”
Tatum tried it on the show’s co-host, Andy, who also reacted in pain. In turn, Andy squeezed the actor’s thigh, but no reaction was elicited from him. The G.I. Joe star chimed in, “It’s actually a fake leg.” The host remarked Tatum had legs made of mahogany. When asked if Hill found a way to stop his co-star from physically torturing him, he responded:
“Uh, no. He’s way bigger and stronger than I am. It’s just like, I beg him. You know, I’ve literally cried from this happening at times.”
When asked if he really hates it and does not consider it “a fun bit” for him, Hill retorted:
“Why the f**k would I like it? What are you talking about?”
The audience and the hosts went on a laughing spree. Hill was clearly not amused with Tatum’s torture tricks and had probably had enough of it. He literally begged his co-star to stop his antics because he was already crying in pain. Fortunately, this did not affect their chemistry on-screen.
How Channing Tatum And Jonah Hill Worked On Their Chemistry
During a roundtable discussion with The Film Stage, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum shared details about their experience working on 21 Jump Street. The Superbad star confessed they didn’t know each other at first:
“It’s crazy because we just took a gamble at it, and then we just became friends and got lucky that it worked out. Yeah, we didn’t know each other.”
Hill confessed that he once sent Tatum the wrong script by accident. As one of the writers and producers of the film, he admits he was very careless. The draft he sent had no ending part.
Tatum, on the other hand, revealed he gave his co-star some awful bottom massages as a way to build their chemistry:
“He was getting massaged on the highway in the Peter Pan costume. And I did the whole switcheroo. She was rubbing him over, and I sort of got in step with her hands and then straddled him on the highway. Gave him a little massage.”
It seems that Tatum and Hill had so much fun playing and working on the set of 21 Jump Street. Despite the constant annoying pranks, they both seemed to have had a great time collaborating.
21 Jump Street is available on Netflix and Prime Video.
Sources: Conan on TBS, The Film Stage
