Channing Tatum: ‘High-functioning ... alcoholic’ on a major roll

Channing Tatum, cover boy for the June issue of GQ, has opened up to the magazine about all sorts of his favorite things, from confetti cake to “The Biggest Loser� to sculpting to the promise of a smooch on the private parts from actor Jonah Hill.

But there’s one quote that has the gossip world buzzing:

“I probably drink too much, you know,� he tells the magazine. “My wife, that’s what she bought into.… I’m probably a pretty high-functioning, I guess, you know, I would say, alcoholic, I guess.�

Still, before the rehab alarms are sounded, note that he followed it up by saying that nothing slows down a person’s partying like having a baby, which he and wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum did last June. And he’ll be off the juice for four months straight while he’s filming the “Magic Mike� sequel, tentatively titled “Magic Mike XXL.�

Whatever he’s been doing, it’s been working for him.

“You know, the guy had three movies do a hundred million dollars in six months — nobody’s ever done that,� filmmaker Steven Soderbergh told the magazine. Those flicks would be Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike� plus “The Vow� and “21 Jump Street.�

And more recently, he’s filmed four movies in a row in about 18 months: “White House Down,� “Foxcatcher,� “Jupiter Ascending� and “22 Jump Street.�

“I feel like I was definitely the fat kid at the buffet,� Tatum says. “There were four really great projects, and I was ‘I wanna do them all.’ They’re like, ‘You know doing four movies back to back is going to kill you?’ and I’m, ‘Yeah, but that’s something I can take.’

“ ‘That’s just going to be tiring, and tired doesn’t kill you.’ �

The birth of daughter Everly fell into that mix too.

“[W]e had sort of a crazy, harebrained idea to try to have a kid, and it happened the first time, basically. And I don’t think we thought it all the way through.�

Father and big-budget movie star seems a long way from the 19-year-old Channing Tatum who piled into a buddy’s van and partied his face off with the guys as they trekked to stripper conventions — an experience he says fuels the “Magic Mike� sequel.

Even so, the foundation for the star’s future appeared to be laid well in advance of his breakout success.

“I took him seriously from the get-go, and doing so has been great for my career and great for my life,� Soderbergh says. “You know, Channing’s viewed differently today than he was five years ago, and the way people think of him now, I thought of him the minute he was in the room working with me. I went, ‘OK, this guy’s on the list now.’ �

And about that intimate promise made by his “Jump Street� franchise costar Hill? The one that resulted when Tatum won a drunken bet in 2012 about how much their movie would make on its opening weekend?

“I will only say,� Hill tells the mag, “that Channing and I say a lot of stupid stuff when we drink together.�

Wait, are we seeing a theme here?

“I might have to double down,� Hill adds, “because there’s no way I’m doing what I said I was going to do.�