Channing Tatum’s early years were right out of Huckleberry Finn, said Rich Cohen in Vanity Fair. The actor grew up in Mississippi near the bayou, and spent many of his days exploring the swamps. “It was a magical place,” says Tatum, 33. “Once there was an alligator we had to catch because it was getting big and bold. They weren’t going to kill it, so they spray-painted its head white so the dogs could see it coming. I remember being there as they taped its mouth shut.” Like Huck, Tatum had no use for school and read with great difficulty. Tatum was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder and dyslexia, and says he was placed at one point “in classes with autistic kids and kids with Down syndrome.” By high school, he was on a cocktail of pharmaceuticals. “I did better at school when I was on it, but it made me a zombie. You become obsessive. Dexedrine, Adderall. It’s like any other drug, like coke or crystal meth. The more you do it, the less it works. I would go through wild bouts of depression, horrible comedowns. I understand why kids kill themselves. I absolutely do. You feel terrible. You feel soulless. I’d never do it to my child.”
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