‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Has ‘No Nudity’: ‘There’s Not Even a Thong’
Magic Mike‘s director Steven Soderbergh is explaining why the final installment doesn’t feature any nudity. The R-rated sequel sees Channing Tatum reprise his role as “Magic” Mike Lane. Salma Hayek Pinault joins the cast as wealthy socialite Maxandra Mendoza.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Soderbergh explained how the film could not show any nudity while delivering on steaminess, as many people are going to watch the film to see Tatum and other hot men strip.
“To me, it’s about sexy. It’s not about the sex, per se, and whether the movie is explicit,” he tells the publication. “There’s no nudity in [my 1998 film] Out of Sight. There’s no nudity in Magic Mike’s Last Dance. ”
He adds, “There’s not even a thong. And yet, it was our desire to make a sexy movie.”
He added, “What’s sexy is intimacy and genuine emotion. Something that feels alive, and electric, and has the potential for vulnerability. That can be sexy. You’re letting somebody inside your heart, and that’s scary. You can get hurt. The really radical thing to do right now, it seems to me, as opposed to showing the beginning of the relationship when there’s all this heat and light because of the attraction — that’s easy — is to show people who’ve been married for 20 years for whom that’s still true. Where you don’t even make a big deal of it. They’ve been together for 20 years, and they’re still into each other in that way.”
In February 2022, Tatum, 42, joked about originally not wanting to do another Magic Mike. He was hesitant because it would mean overworking to achieve unhealthy body expectations for the stripping scenes. “That might be the reason why I didn’t want to do a third one. Because I have to look like that.” Tatum said on The Kelly Clarkson Show at the time as she showed a shirtless photo of him from the second film in the franchise, Magic Mike XXL. “”
“It’s hard to look like that. Even if you do work out, to be that kind of in shape is not natural,” he added. “That’s not even healthy — you have to starve yourself. I don’t think when you’re that lean it’s actually healthy.”
Magic Mike’s Last Dance is in theaters Friday, Feb. 10.
