Channing Tatum on the Pooch Who Inspired 'Dog,' Plus: A 'Magic Mike' Threequel Tease

Channing Tatum is starring in and co-directing “Dog,” a buddy comedy that follows the misadventures of two former Army Rangers paired against their will on the road trip of their lives.

Channing, along with his buddy, Reid Carolin — who co-directed the film with Tatum and who co-wrote the screenplay — talked with “Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay all about the hilarious and touching new movie.

Channing said his own dog Lulu was part of what inspired him on this film. “I lost my puppy of 11 years, went on a road trip… She passed, like two days after I got back," he said. "And it was at a time in my life where I, like, did not want to lose my best friend.”

He went on, “When reflecting on what Lulu were really meant to me, it wasn't sad at all, it was really joyful and beautiful and free and kind of, like, untethered… I think [that memory] really just put shape to this other story."

The plot was inspired by "this really small community of special operators in the military and their dogs and we kind of, you know, just sort of fell in love with them."

Reid added “We wanted to shine a light on our relationships, our dogs, and the parts of those relationships that really kind of lit us up and formed most of the our favorite memories... And then also honor the community of rangers, who we met making our documentary for HBO called 'War Dog.'”

Rachel asked Channing if he found making "Dog" therapeutic toward getting over the loss of Lulu.

Channing said, “There was one scene in particular in the... end of the movie where I ended up saying — because I try to refrain from saying Lulu’s name almost the whole movie. It's why it's called 'Dog.' And then when I finally say the name, there was one moment where I was like, 'Oh, yeah, I need a minute. Wait a minute.' Like, it was cathartic.”

Everything went well, but Channing admitted of his directorial debut that he won't direct himself again. "If I ever direct again, I will not be in the movie. Let's just say that.”

“Maybe a little part. A tiny part," Reid nudged him.

Channing agreed, “Yeah, I guess.”

Channing is also starring in rumored girlfriend Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, the thriller "Pussy Island." Revealing the advice he gave her, he said, “Don’t be in the movie… Look, if you're going to be in the movie, you need to literally, whatever, however many days you think you need, just double it, like because otherwise you just don't have any time to, like, go back and like, watch it and, like, see what you're doing. You know, it's a maze when you're just acting alone… So, she took my advice.”

Reid and Channing are also teaming back up for the next — and final — "Magic Mike" movie, "Magic Mike's Last Dance." Reid teased, ‘There's gonna be some extra story, actually.’

Channing chimed in, “I think a story that actually people are gonna care about really more for the first time… This movie, specifically, I think, is... we've been building it to this moment. We could not have made the movie that we're about to make without the first two movies, and then everything that we've learned in the live shows. I just, I'm really excited — like, beyond excited, because we're gonna do stuff in this movie and talk about some themes that we've really never talked about.”