Ricky Martin Reflects on Giving Channing Tatum His Big Break in the ‘She Bangs’ Music Video

Where would Channing Tatum be without Ricky Martin? Luckily for fans of Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street and She’s the Man, the world will never know.

The actor got his start in the Latin pop star’s iconic “She Bangs” music video back in 2000, playing a bar tender serving a group of rowdy partygoers, including Martin. Nearly a quarter-century later, the singer opened up about his chance collaboration with Tatum in an interview on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen alongside his Palm Royale costar Kristen Wiig on Thursday (March 21).

“I think he said thank you for the first opportunity,” Martin began. “Super cool.”

“In Miami, I just told the people from the production of the video to go out scouting and invite everybody to the Bahamas,” he continued. “And that’s what happened, and there he was.”

Tatum shouted out the project in a 2022 Wired video with Sandra Bullock, with whom he starred in The Lost City. “My very first job ever was a Ricky Martin video,” he revealed, to which Bullock admitted she was “fangirling.”

“I was a bartender with face paint and a mohawk,” he added at the time. “It was fun, it was great.”

Released in 2000 on Martin’s Sound Loaded album, “She Bangs” peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, a little over a year after the Puerto Rican superstar ruled atop the chart for five weeks with “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” The album peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

Watch Martin open up about working with Tatum above.