Ricky Martin on giving Channing Tatum his big break in “She Bangs” music video

Ricky Martin is reflecting on giving Channing Tatum his big break.

Tatum got his career started in 2000 when he appeared in Ricky’s iconic “She Bangs” music video. He played a bartender who served Ricky and other partygoers. On Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live, Ricky spoke to host Andy Cohen about casting Tatum in the video.

“I think he said thank you for the first opportunity,” Ricky said. “Super cool.”

Ricky then described how they came across Tatum in the first place.

“In Miami, I just told the people from the production of the video to go out scouting and invite everybody to the Bahamas,” Ricky said. “And that’s what happened, and there he was.”

Tatum recalled the project in a video for Wired in 2022. “My very first job ever was a Ricky Martin video,” Tatum said. “I was a bartender with face paint and a mohawk … It was fun, it was great.”