Channing Tatum’s Gambit: A Sacred Role, A Memorable Accent

The actor reveals why he didn’t take home Gambit’s costume and discusses the challenges of the iconic Cajun accent

Channing Tatum finally fulfilled his long-held dream of playing Gambit in “Deadpool & Wolverine” after years of setbacks. The role holds such significance for him that he admitted to being too scared to ask for the costume as a memento after filming wrapped. Tatum, known for his tradition of taking home a piece of his characters, hesitated to do so for Gambit.

“I was too scared to ask,” Tatum revealed in a Vanity Fair interview. “And usually, I steal the very last outfit that I’m in, in every movie, and I was too scared to do it on this one.”

Gambit’s thick Cajun accent has become a running gag in the film, with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool quipping, “Who’s your dialect coach? The Minions?” Tatum clarified that the accent was intentional, and not a result of poor delivery.

“There was very little improv. The Cajun dialect is a very particular one,” Tatum explained to Access Hollywood. “I grew up in Mississippi and my dad is from New Orleans. So it’s one of those things that I grew up around it, but I’ve never done it. There are certain little isms that are very Cajun-y, but we actually intended it to be somewhat unintelligible. That was sort of the joke.”

Tatum’s dedication to the role extended to his interactions with Reynolds on set. “Ryan would come up to me and say, ‘I don’t want to know anything that you’re saying on this [take],'” Tatum recalled. “So I just dialed it all the way up. And then other ones he’s like, ‘All right, I’ve got to understand what you’re saying now.'”

Following the film’s box office success, Tatum expressed his gratitude for finally getting to play Gambit on the big screen. “I thought I had lost Gambit forever,” he wrote on social media. “But Reynolds fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever.”

In a subsequent interview with Variety, Tatum admitted that his desire for a standalone Gambit film had not waned. “I’ve been saying I want it for the last 10 years. It’s in Bob Iger and Kevin Feige’s hands. I pray to God,” he said.