Gene Kelly remains one of the most iconic movie stars of all time, a nostalgic symbol of a time when America embraced its movie characters breaking into song and dance—so it’s no wonder that we’re frequently looking for “our generation’s Gene Kelly.” Enter Channing Tatum: Since the arrival of the freewheeling, dance-routine-heavy Magic Mike XXL, the comparisons to the late great dancing machine have flowed freely and excitedly.
The Coen brothers’ Hail Caesar! appears to mark the first explicit cinematic acknowledgment of the stars’ similarities, thanks to Tatum’s casting as a classic Hollywood song-and-dance man in the Kelly mold. But how alike are the two men, really? Watch the video for a deep and very rhythmic dive into how their careers have paralleled one another, and discover they have more in common than swinging hips.
