Channing Tatum on his Wrexham Super Bowl -Nonce: ‘They were just so cute’

Channing Tatum, newly converted Wrexham AFC fan and star of a Super Bowl advertising that will run the Welsh club’s footballers to millions of US homes this weekend.

“Man, I feel embarrassed,” he says The athletic After being asked how it feels to be Follows in the footsteps of Sir Anthony Hopkins As the star of Stok Cold Brew’s latest collaboration with Wrexham, EFL Club, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

“I hope Anthony Hopkins doesn’t see this and goes, ‘Really? This is who is filling my shoes? ” ‘

For those who missed it, the two-time Oscar award winner Hopkins took the lead in last year’s opening super bowl from Stok, which has sponsored Wrexham’s Home Stadium since 2023.

In a marked departure from career-defining roles like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs or Stevens in the remnants of the day, Port Talbot-born actor costume of the Wrex Dragen, mascoten that entertains young fans in every home games. The 60-second film showing Hopkins, who psyching himself for the role in the mirror, went down a storm.

That’s why Stok went back with Wrexham and maximum effort, Reynolds ‘Agency, to get a commercial that will be broadcast on Fox Sports’ Big Game Livestream and the NFL app when Philadelphia Eagles takes Kansas City Chiefs on the Super Bowl Lix this Sunday .

Celebration Dance is the central theme of this year’s ad (scroll down to see it). Magic Mike star Tatum has been brought in by the club’s owners as a choreographer to teach players to celebrate goals by throwing a few forms, driven by the sponsor’s coffee drink.

To film the ad spent Tatum for a few days in North Wales just before Christmas and joined Reynolds at Wrexham’s 2-2 draw with Cambridge United. “I was able to go and hang out with the guys the night before filming,” he says. “I went to the game and then it was (midfielder) Elliot Lee’s birthday the night after. We all hung together. Such a good time.

“I was still nervous. I knew I was going to fool out of myself the next day in front of them. It could have been in one of two ways. They could have been, ‘Who is this mute American actor coming in here and doing anything?’ This is their job. They work hard on what they do. They have an incredible season. I didn’t know what the mood was going to be. But they were just so cute. “

The current rate for a Super Bowl ad can reach $ 7-8million in 30 seconds screentime on TV during the game itself, and companies go all the way out when it comes to big name. David Beckham, Ben Affleck, Meg Ryan and even superstars like Kermit The Frog will be monitored by an audience of up to 200 million during the breaks between Eagles and Chiefs.

For Wrexham and Sponsor Stok it is huge to tap the Super Bowl market. “Super Bowl is literally the crown jewel, the greatest moment of the year, for our industry,” says Dan Donovan, creative head of maximum efforts. “One of the rare moments when the world really looks at. Not just the game, but the advertisement. Since I have got to know English football for the past few years, I understand that they have games that dwarves the Super Bowl as far as viewing.

“But because of the way the game is played, there are no ads with the 45 minutes half. So it’s a very different experience. If people in the UK have never had the chance to experience the Super Bowl, as Americans do, they would be surprised because people are aware of the ads as much as they do the game. “

Thanks to the success of Emmy-AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY SERIES Welcome to Wrexham, the League One team’s players are not stranger to the limelight. Strike duo Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer even had Como-Roller last summer’s Blockbuster movie Deadpool & Wolverine, thanks to co-chairman Reynolds.

It may explain why film shooting with Tatum in the narrow home-dressing room at Wrexham’s historic stadium turned out to be a relatively straightforward affair, even though the crew got only a small window of 30-45 minutes due to the players and then had to train.

The only blip involved the most important star that took a tumble when illustrating a few dance movements using a small table that usually holds the team’s medical supplies and bottles of water on a match day.

“I planted face from the table,” laughs Tatum. “I remember getting there (before filming) and they showed me the table. I’m like ‘this is not a table – how should I do something about this thing?’ Surely enough, I fell off. I was like ‘Oh my God!’ Everyone was crying of laughter. “

Otherwise everything went to plan, including the players and veteran striker Steven Fletcher (depicted top), especially when walking nose-to-nose with Tatum in a stage with a straight face, even when the American went through a few of his more Foreign traits

“They were actually all pretty incredible to hold a poker face,” says Tatum. “So good, in fact, that I had to ask,” You still like me, right? “

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Tatum will see her daughter at an Irish dance competition on Sunday, but hopes to be able to catch the Super Bowl Lix.

“I think her dance, her competition, will be done just as the game begins,” says the 44-year-old. “So hopefully we can go somewhere and catch the game. It’s my plan but who knows how these things will go? “

Tatum does not give anything to get anything to increase these plans, and then get the opportunity to watch the ad live and relive his visit to North Wales. “I want to return,” he says of Wrexham. “Literally to die to come back now I have friends there.”

Tatum packed in lots during the long weekend in Wales. On Friday he joined Reynolds for a meal at Local Pub, The Fat Boar, before mingled with fans. Saturday morning was spent visiting the city center. First stop was ‘Ryan Reynolds Memorial Park’, gifted to the Deadpool star of McElhenney as a birthday. Here, the Canadian for his colleague A-list explained that the intention is to transform the area into a social space.

The two movie stars visited the grass, the pub next to Wrexham’s home, and took a short stroll to High Street for a cup of coffee at Zerno Ukrainian Cafe, who sits opposite the picturesque St. Giles’ Parish Church that really caught Tatum’s eye. “What I really liked was to take the trip where you pass the church,” he says. “I have a fantastic picture with the sun, but it was also foggy and rainy. The church is behind. It’s such a beautiful city, I really want to go back and explore it more. “

Although sports figures have long been part of the advertising world, it is still very unusual to see a British football team and a third level on that feature of the Super Bowl weekend. The fact that Wrexham gets even more international attention can encourage jealousy, something that the maximum effort creative director Donovan has been on duty against several visits to the Atlantic Since the Welsh club’s Hollywood takeover.

“I hope the people who are not fans of Wrexham can see the positive things,” he adds. “As English football becomes more popular in the United States, it’s good for all teams. We are obviously personally invested in Wrexham as a company, but I can see how Wrexham and its popularity are not clear. I can see the heat around the league and the sport. It really has a renaissance in the US, which will eventually be great for English football. “

No matter how other fans feel, the expectation is that Wrexham fans will be proud. “I can’t imagine a world where anyone in Wrexham could have thought their club, their city, would have been on display in this way,” says Brittney Polka, vice president of ready to drink drinks in Danone North America, owner of cane – labeled. “I feel super proud to be able to do it with them. I hope they feel that we have made them proud. “

As for Sunday, Tatum says he is looking forward to the game, though his football loyalty on that side of the pond is in the college game and specifically the University of Alabama. “I don’t really (have an NFL team) to be honest,” he says. “I grew up in Tampa, and at that time Buccs (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, owned by Manchester United’s Glazer family) were one of the worst teams in the NFL. I liked them but I couldn’t really call them my team.

“My father was from New Orleans and he claimed the saints. So I’m a kind of Buccs/Saints fan in NFL. But more than anything else I am roll tide, Alabama. “

Come Super Bowl, but Tatum admits his friendship with Wrexham co-owner McElhenney-a lifelong Eagles fan after being raised in Philadelphia-betting that he wants more than a transient interest in who prevails.

“This is massive for Rob,” he says. “Fight. I’m so excited for him. “

(Top Photo: Maximum Action)