*Michael Strahan may have conquered NFL defensive lines, but dropping his robe for “Magic Mike XXL” presented a different challenge.
Strahan played Augustus, an entertainer who performs at the private club run by Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, Rome. His role required him to lose the robe and show off the physique underneath. Speaking with Playboy, the former NFL star and “Good Morning America” co-anchor admitted he initially struggled with exposing himself before the cameras.
“I take off the robe, and I felt so exposed, and I’m generally a pretty quiet and shy person,” Strahan said, PEOPLE reported.
His anxiety didn’t last long. After completing the scene once, Strahan quickly warmed up to the experience.
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“I go and I did it, and they’re like, ‘You want to do it again?’ I felt good,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Man, this stripping ain’t bad.’”
Strahan also had a playful explanation for why male viewers couldn’t dismiss his performance.
“I think guys were jealous. Most of them were trying to act like they didn’t see it. I know they saw it,” he said. “But they couldn’t hate because the abs were popping, the biceps were rippling.”
The 2015 sequel starred Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Donald Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith and several other performers. The franchise drew inspiration from Tatum’s experiences working as a stripper before his acting career.
Strahan’s appearance gave audiences an unexpected side of the Super Bowl champion turned television personality. More than a decade later, he can laugh about how quickly fear gave way to fun.
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