How is Finding Magic Mike going to help guys to find the lost 'magic'?
by Ana Walia | Thu, 16 Dec 2021 21:52:48 GMT
Image Source: Polygon 

HBO Max’s new series ‘Finding Magic Mike’ is going to serve as a holiday treat for a lot of people.

Finding Magic Mike is going to follow seven-episode in which the audience will see 10 guys who are non-professional dancers or strippers who have lost their ‘magic’ trying to find it while competing for a whopping cash prize of $100,000 and an opportunity to perform live in the Magic Mike Live Stage Show in Las Vegas.

The episodes are going to follow the 10 normal guys rehearsing the challenging choreography and then culminating in one big performance at the end of each episode. Magic Mike franchise VIPs who also appear are choreographers Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick are going to serve as mentors and choreographers for the show as well.

Luke said, "We came to this with the intention [we always have] of putting on the best performance out there. But for the TV show, we tailored it for the guys and for their abilities. Because we weren't looking for professional dancers." Alison added, "And I think additionally for the TV show, each week we had a theme or a goal they're working towards, so we also had that in mind each week."

Actor Adam Rodriguez who plays the character of Tito in the movie is going to serve as a mentor for the guys on the show and while talking to PEOPLE Adam shared that when the opportunity to be involved with Finding Magic Mike was offered to him, he was thrilled and because of the positive experience he had with his fellow cast members, he grabbed it. Adam mentioned, "The opportunity to really take the experience I had and help guide these guys who were courageous enough to show up excited me. You say, Magic Mike, you have people at 'Hello' because they correctly assume they're going to get eye candy and sex appeal. Which, you do, but I just don't think people see the heart that's coming with it, and that's the beauty of it. That's the surprise that I can't wait for people to see." Adam also added that the guys whose journey the audience will get to see on the show have bonded well with each other and it reminds him of his time with the Magic Mike cast.

Adam added, "There were so many similarities. I think anytime you put a group of people, and let's use men in this case, because that was the experience that I've had on both [movies], is that a brotherhood gets formed. You're up for challenges. You are put in positions where you're being vulnerable and have to expose yourself literally and figuratively. And I think that when you do that amongst the group, you just very naturally form bonds very quickly. And you can see in the show, I mean these guys become friends really quickly. They really form just a love for each other that you can see, and it makes it hard when people have to go home."

Adam Rodriguez starred as TITO in Magic Mike and is now going to serve as the mentor for the show. Image Source: New York Post  

Channing Tatum although does not appear on the show but is seen in a few clips that are from the movie along with the other cast members. Channing is serving as executive producer along with Steven Soderbergh who is also the director of Magic Mike, Gregory Jacobs, who is the director of Magic Mike XXL, and Reid Carolin who wrote the first two films.

Talking about the boys who are going to appear on the show, 50 contestants were flown from all over the United States for the show and the makers have managed to narrow them down to 10, all belonging to different work and life backgrounds. Johnny Dutch who is one of the finalists out of 10 shared with PEOPLE how does their family feels about their appearance on the show, "Oh, my God. Well, my mother, my family, they're very conservative. We're from North Carolina, so you already know. But they're very supportive, and it's a tasteful, positive experience. So, if anything, it's given me the motivation just to keep doing it."

Nate Bryan who is also one of the guys who has managed to make it to the top said, "Yeah, I have the same answer. My family's not 100%. They're very conservative, but also supportive. They're happy that I found something that I actually really enjoy doing, and I would love to continue it. I thought it was going to be more like stripping and trying to gain your confidence in stripping with a woman in a seat, not understanding that this is professional dancing. Alison and Luke are amazing. All those guys are just amazing. I didn't know it was going to be such a dance-heavy competition. And I loved it. Everything was done very tastefully."

Showrunner and executive producer Alycia Rossiter feels happy that the guys selected to bring in the humor along with the humility on the show which is a positive sign. Alycia further added about the show, "I wanted to talk about what it means to be a man today, not what it means to take your clothes off. And I think part of what it takes to be a man is to own some sexiness. And we were definitely focusing on sexy, but you're not going to feel sexy unless you feel good. And this was about making them feel good."

Sharing about the process of narrowing 10 guys from 50, Alycia said, "We weren't casting for funny, we were casting for men who had lost their magic. So I was expecting them to be vulnerable and I was expecting them to need our help and hoping that they would work really hard, but the fact that they found humor in every situation helped us make a great show. It helped us bond, helped them to fall in love with each other and us."

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Finding Magic Mike is going to help the guys find their lost magic and talk about the lost magic Johnny and Nate shared that the show has helped them to face their insecurities in a very different way and challenged them to expand their already fixed definition of ‘sexy’. Johnny added, "Honestly, I kind of felt insecure taking my shirt off just because I'm not huge. In my mind, I'm always thinking as a stripper, women want to see big men, and that was my perception going into the show. 'Oh, they want me to be big and buff,' and it's not like that for women. It's more mental. But yeah, [I had] to get over that hump of taking the shirt off every day."

Whereas for Nate, he mentioned that he is very shy and because of this, making a connection with a stranger and stripping in front of them was difficult. On this note, Johnny added that he has learned that when it comes to this kind of performance they are fun but it’s all about what women want. "That's what I learned from the show. They don't want what men want. Men like to go straight for it sometimes. Women like to process, [enjoy] foreplay”, he added lastly. Austin Arizpe, Kevin Klass, Ricky Negron, Adonis Frank, Michael Thantrong, Ross Harris, Jiaovanni Teheran Jones, and Merlin Leon. The first episode is now streaming on HBO MAX.

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Executive Producer of Finding Magic Mike, Vincent Marini said, "I never believed that these guys were going to be as good as they end up being. I used to say, 'There's no way these guys are going to be able to pull this off,' and somehow we got them there and they did an incredible job."

Alycia Rossiter also added to the same and said that Vincent Marini is a great skeptic because he never believed it but then he would say that we have to push the boys harder to try and make them tempted to fail but make them try harder and then the boys tried to give their best shot and wouldn’t fail and it amazed him. 

Channing Tatum also shared a picture of the crew of the show on his social media applauding them for their hard work and dedication. The actor also hinted another Magic Mike movie titled, 'Magic Mike Last Dance', which has already created a buzz among the fans. 

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