While in France for the Cannes Lion festival, the “Magic Mike” star opened up about fatherhood and how it’s influenced his marriage with wife, fellow actor Jenna Dewan Tatum.
“Babies are just like little mirrors of you,” the actor said in an interview with Cosmopolitan---that was streamed on Facebook live. “They don’t even understand what you’re saying for a very large part of their early life.”
Being around his three-year-old daughter Emily has taught him to be mindful of his behavior.
“That’s probably one of the biggest lessons for me—my behavior is everything to her.”
More on how being a dad changed the actor’s marriage on the next page
Becoming more conscious of the way he behaves isn’t the only positive change being a dad has inspired; it also strengthened his relationship with his wife, fellow actor and dancer, Jenna Dewan.
The two first met and fell in love on the set of Step Up, a breakaway hit dance movie which practically launched both their acting careers.
“Someone told me—actually it was Jada-Pinkett-Smith—she said, once you’ve raised a kid for 10 years with somebody and there is no one in the whole entire world that you would go to war with first," he recounts. "Because you’ve already been through it all, and you’ve made it that far, and that person knows every single thing about you—all the uglies, all the goods.”
He likens becoming parents to reaching a “boiling point” in their relationship.
“Your life isn’t yours anymore,” he said. “You revolve around something—and to be able to do that in tandem with somebody is pretty special.”
He gets more candid when talking about their steamy sex life. “Me and sex are friends. We’re animals,” he said. “It’s not a means. It’s something that enriches your life. It’s one of the clearest ways that we communicate, it boils things down to a very primal level.”
"We have truly all different kinds of sex," he reveals. "Sometimes it's like, 'Look, you got to get this done, I got to go to work,' and that's a real thing. To me, that's us being completely open and being like, 'Look, I don't have the energy for this right now. You just get yours and I gotta go to work.' But then we have full-on, just completely, totally connected otherworldly connection sex as well. So I think we do a lot."
“You have to communicate and be brutally honest with each other,” said Tatum, emphasizing that a lot of open and honest communication is really one of the secrets of success for this charmingly authentic couple.
LOOK: Celebrities share heartwarming Father’s Day tributes for their partners
Be sure to check out theAsianparent Community for more insightful stories, questions, and answers from parents and experts alike. If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the topic, please share them in our Comment box below. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ to stay up-to-date on the latest from theAsianparent.com Philippines!