Channing Tatum explains that Gambit’s accent was supposed to be sometimes unintelligible

The Blink Twice star expressed gratitude to Ryan Reynolds and explains how they just let him run wild with the accent.

Lots of positive reactions came from this summer’s biggest hit, Deadpool & Wolverine. A lot of positive responses also came from fans finally getting to experience Channing Tatum inhabiting the role of Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit. Even after the character got a meta send-off, Tatum holds out hope that this will still open an opportunity for a solo film. “I sure hope so. From your mouth to God’s ears. Write it into existence, my friend. Please.” Tatum told Marvel that he still wants to make the movie. “I’ve course I’ve said it. 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.”

Tatum is not the first live-action Gambit as Taylor Kitsch portrayed him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, although Tatum’s speaking voice as the character comes straight out of the 90s X-Men cartoon. According to Variety, Tatum gave an interview in Access Hollywood where he said the accent was supposed to be unintelligible at times. The 21 Jump Street star explained, “There was very little improv. The Cajun dialect is a very particular one. 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.”

He continued, “[Ryan would] come up to be and say, ‘I don’t want to know anything that you’re saying on this [take],’ 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.’”

The stars of the film had expressed immense gratitude for partaking in the film in their respective characters. Tatum would take the time on social media to show Reynolds a debt of thanks for helping him finally realize the X-Man, “I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But [Reynolds] fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me. I love ya buddy…I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure bad ass joy. I was literally screaming in the theater.”

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.