Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum: Exclusive Portraits of the 'White House Down' Stars

Channing Tatum

“I must say I wasn’t sure,” admits Tatum of his upcoming film White House Down. “A lot of people call me up, and they want to put a gun in my hand, and it’s such a weird place to be in. America is very, very divided right now. But I felt [this film] was a good way to point out some of the issues in our country [including the polarization of Washington] without being too dramatic or heavy.”

Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx tells THR he never thought he would be playing the president one day.

"The stuff I am doing now is beyond my wildest dreams -- though I have met President Clinton, President Obama and President Bush before," Foxx says. "They're regular guys. George Bush loves his family, Christian man; President Obama loves his family, another Christian man; Bill Clinton, another Christian man. These guys are all human. Behind closed doors, they're human guys. They are not mechanical machines even if their ratings are down."

Tatum on Foxx

“Being with Jamie is like going to the theater while you are on set,” says Tatum (left) of co-star Foxx, photographed June 22 at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C. “He is the purest form of entertainer I’ve ever met in my life.”

Tatum on his 'Jimmy Kimmel' Rap Video

The White House Down costars recently appeared in the comical rap video "(I Wanna) Channing All Over Your Tatum" on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! "It happened when we were going over to the Kimmel show after the Oscars. I was prepping the movie in London, and we hadn't figured out what to do -- and they wanted us to rap. It turned out to be a big thing," Tatum says of the video lampooning his sex appeal. "Jamie is hilarious. After that, Jamie was like, 'We should run with this thing!' I went to his house that following weekend, and he's got a studio, and some wickedly talented kids put together some stuff while we were drinking beers."

Foxx on His Favorite Presidents

Of the three president's Foxx has met (BIll Clinton, George. W. Bush and Barack Obama), he says he likes them all for different reasons. "Obviously, with President Obama, there is a kinship because I am an African-American. Watching how he deals [with everything], he's like LeBron James. Either he's at the top of the mountain or they put him at the bottom of the ocean," Foxx says. "If you look back on this time, you'll look back on how chaotic it was and say, 'Here's a man who is not afraid.'"

Tatum on an Alternate Career

The star says he never thought he would act for a living.

"I never planned on being an actor; I definitely never planned on being a model," says Tatum. "I always loved animals. I worked at a puppy/kitty nursery in Tampa, Fla., for about a year or something. At that time, I thought maybe I should get a job as a vet tech."

Foxx on His White House Visit

Foxx performed for President Obama at the White House in 2011 for a Motown event, and says he was taken with Washington, D.C.'s monuments.

"I think the White House was smaller but not less grand -- it was more grand -- than I imagined," Foxx says.

Tatum on 'Magic Mike 2'

"It will be a road-trip movie, and it will essentially be the movie that everyone thought the first one was going to be: crazy and fun and less slice-of-life and less drama," Tatum says of Magic Mike 2, which is in development. "The first one, we had to make not so cheesy and campy; this one we are going to swing for the fences."