Didn't you have like, there's like a stance, there's like a throw down stance. Was it this? Oh yeah, this.

on the poster? Yeah. Hopefully everybody's going to walk out of the movie theater like this.

And I felt embarrassed. I felt horrible because I'm like, oh my god, I've just ruined this set. Like, and I had no idea. Not to mention, these poor girls were like drenched in whipped cream. You know you want to show up on that set day one and be like You don't want to be the one with a little bit of just a little bit of that side roll situation. No, you don't want to be that guy. I'm here with the XXXL, Adam Rodriguez. I don't mean your physique. You look fantastic. You still you haven't lost it since

All right. Thank you very much.

Wait, I have to I'm going to call myself out for a second. Please. Because the first time you came into the studio was for Magic Mike. Yeah. I danced for you. And I think we gave you bills or something.

You did. You did give me yes, you did.

I gave you bills. Why didn't you tell me that when I first walked in? I'm

You just wanted your reaction on camera. That's why.

But honestly, that and rapping for T. I. were my two that I go, I don't know why. Cause you're courageous. Cause you wanted to make it XXXL. Oh, I'm not doing it again. Don't be thinking you're getting me in there again. No, it's not getting bigger and bigger this time. Okay. How do you take a dance and turn it up?

You know, I think we just had to do that with the entire movie. The first movie is it's sort of this obscure uh expose into the life of male strippers and why that life is something, you know, dark and you know, that people want to get out of and that, you know, that was uh that was Steven's inclination was to explore that side. I think you needed to do that. You needed to like justify why why you to this life, you know? There was no justification. Yeah, I mean you'd have to justify standing in a movie in a thong, otherwise it's just ridiculous, you know. So you're like, okay, well this is a serious movie about men dancing in thongs. And this is why it's serious because this is a rough life for them. This is tough. They've got to get out. And now you're like, just forget it. And now it's like, okay, we've established that. You know you see that we can get serious if we need to. Now we're just going to let go and have a good time and that that really is what this movie is. It is just a it's a party from the beginning to the end. First of all, get back together with these guys. Get together with my boys. We've been keeping in touch this entire time. Everybody's really good friends. And just go have a great time, you know, and know that we're going to have to challenge ourselves to, you know, a get in shape and then b get out there and display what we've taken the time to put in shape.

Okay. Let's because I think Channing's um trainer put out like his actual diet. So people could follow it and the number of crunches and that. What was your? How did you eat fresh? How did you get in shape? This time around?

Oh, man. Um you just you really do have to be disciplined. You know, and I'm the type of person, I mean, I kept pushing it, pushing it. I knew we were going to start this movie and I didn't have a definitive date yet and I was like, well, not sure. It might be like mid-September, I guess. So, I was planning for the beginning of September, I could take another two weeks. I could, you know, I could I could wait and finally I ran into a mutual friend of all of ours and uh and he was like, have you started getting ready yet? I'm like, yeah, I'm I'm close. I'm just about to get going and he's like, I think you ought to hurry up. The other guys are like they're going. And I'm like,

He's been at it for a while.

Yeah, well, Joe's the one guy you knew that he's like, he's never stopped. But um, it was that thing cause you know, it's really a brotherhood like and you don't want to be the weak link. You don't want to let your brothers down. So, you know, you know you want to show up on that set day one and be like, you don't want to be the one with a little bit of just a little bit of that side roll situation. No, you don't want to be that guy. You definitely don't need to ask for a spray tan. So fun being that guy, the guy that was lazy and didn't put his heart into it. So the reason the friendships work the way they do is because everybody's cut from the same cloth. Everybody's just genuinely a good guy. They're all of these guys are guys that if my daughter brought home, I'd be really happy to call my son-in-law.

Really? You're going to have to keep the guns in shape so that when those guys start coming around

Yes.

one day.

Yes.

You'll just be like that imposing. And if your guns aren't in shape, then the other guns will be oiled and and well maintained. I want to put you on the spot and ask you to name your favorite if you're going to objectify. You know how girls go, I wish I had her hair. You wish you had Channing's what?

Dance moves. Right. It's so easy. Oh my god. It's so just unbelievable. I wish. He just, you know, there are some people that play an instrument and they just get lost in playing that instrument. He just, you put the right music on and he just he's gone and he's, you know, he's Channing Tatum, but he's Magic Mike, I guess. Yeah, I'll take the dance moves.

Okay, what about Matt? Matt's eyes. Matt has like the craziest blue eyes. It's very romantic.

It is. Well, I mean, aside from the fact that there is a deep beautiful soul behind those baby blue eyes. Those ice blue eyes. I don't even know what to call them. They're like a blue that hasn't been defined yet, but uh, yeah, I'll take Matt's eyes.

Okay. And Joe?

I'll take Joe's abs. I guess. Yeah, Joe's got great abs.

That you didn't choose the guns.

No, I like guns. That gun show is unbelievable. Yeah, it's pretty unbelievable. He's just at 6'5". I guess you just get a little bit of extra canvas to paint in a few extra abs and you know, yeah, I'd take that.

Now, I read that, you know, there are some unsung heroes in this film and that's the the extras.

Oh, I try to sing their praises every chance I get. Could not have done it without them.

So, were they real fans? Or they they were, right? Yeah, they were. So, why didn't I get the newsletter that I could go and be an extra?

You might not be on the right blogs or you know, you got to step it up, girl. Like the energy that they provided for us was just like it just absolutely took everything to the next level. You know, you can't do it without them. That live audience just gives you something that you you don't even know you have in the tank until they're there.

So, did things sort of I mean, I know you had things that were routine, like you had your routines. Yeah. Did things kind of go like when you had that fan interaction and things literally exploded in my routine uh as a result of this. I am talking whipped cream everywhere. Cuz I I heard the stunt coordinators They had the machines. Are you sure you're there? You've heard a lot. I'm wondering are you were you not there somewhere? I wasn't one of the girls. Come on, admit it. That was you. You had on a wig and something else going on. No. Um

But there was like whipped cream canisters and they What the prop master did was she put, I guess two or three times the amount of gas that you normally put in there just wanting to make sure that they function. And apparently they were functioning at fire hose level uh whipped cream expulsion. Uh it was crazy. And a surprise. Nobody knows it was coming. And then you have these fans going crazy. The back side of that set when that first happened was literally covered in whipped cream. And I felt embarrassed. I felt horrible because I'm like, oh my God, I've just ruined the set. Like, and I had no idea. Not to mention, these poor girls were like drenched in whipped cream. Uh Luckily, it was good, it was organic.

So you guys just had a terrible time filming this movie? Awful. Terrible. Are you ready to be worshiped? Are you ready to be exalted? What are we? Well, a healer is a song path. Yes, man. Oh yeah. Empire. Congratulations. You're going to be in the next season. I play a character named Laz Delgado. Love it. Yeah. So you've worked with Taraji before. Yeah, I have. I know Derek Luke was just here. Oh, Derek was in. Good. Um and it's funny because she actually had a part in him getting the role. Nice. on that on that show. I think they had sort of a choice and and she did she do you know if she sort of had a hand in in you being cast or?

I don't know, honestly. I'm hoping so. I would imagine that if they asked her, she would give me the thumbs up. I would I would I would believe that that would be true. We stayed in touch since the last movie.

I mean, we really just clicked and became good friends and again, she's one of those quality people that you meet that you're like, yeah, this person I'm going to and then you just hope to get a chance to work together again and And now on this huge platform. on a show that's a juggernaut.

Yeah. What do you hope to bring to the show? Like what do you hope now that you've been

You know, I'm really hoping that someone gets to love Cookie the way she deserves to be loved. You know, here's this woman that is like gives her all to these men. Every one of them, whether it's been Lucius or her sons, you know, they just don't genuinely appreciate how much she's willing to sacrifice and be in their corner. They don't really get that. And I'm hoping that Laz comes along and sees that quality and is uh is willing to take care of that in a way that it's supposed to be taken care of.

Concert promoter, you're playing?

Yeah, I play a concert promoter.

Love it. Love it. Yeah. Um this was great having you here. I stayed seated. Great to meet you. No dance this time. Again, for the third part, hopefully. Magic Mike XXXL, maybe. If you dance, I'll dance. Hopefully.

If I'm alive, I'm in. If they're doing it.

Oh, you know who we can go out with? Didn't you have like there's like a stance, there's like a throw down stance. Was it this? on the poster? Yeah. Hopefully everybody's going to walk out of the movie theater like this. I just need to add a big mop of blonde streaked hair on my head, but

There you go. Look something like that. Magic Mike XXXL. Yeah. Big smile. Big smile. I got to make a big yeah. Okay. There you go. Yes.