Channing Tatum was once just “that kid” in “Coach Carter,” but four years later, with “G.I. Joe: Rise Of The Cobra,” he would be the star of a big series. However, the actor shared his genuine sentiments about the end outcome and his conflicted feelings about signing up in the first place when promoting “Magic Mike XXL” on “The Howard Stern Show” this morning.

Tatum admitted that that role was not one of his favorites. He said that his contract with Paramount compelled him to do it, and he still has mixed feelings about it.

“Look, I’ll be honest. I fucking hate that movie. I hate that movie,” Tatum stated. “I was pushed into doing that movie. From Coach Carter, they signed me to a three-picture deal … They give you the contract and they go, ‘Three-picture deal, here you go.’ And as a young [actor], you’re like, ‘Oh my god, that sounds amazing, I’m doing that!’

“Time goes by and you get other jobs and you’re building your quote and you have a dream job you want to do. And … the studio calls up and they’re like, ‘Hey, we got a movie for you, we’re going to send it to you.’ And they send it to you, and it’s GI Joe.

“And I love GI Joe: ‘Can I play Snake Eyes?’ And they’re like, ‘No, you’re not playing Snake Eyes, you’re playing GI Joe.’”

“The script wasn’t any good,” said Tatum. “And I didn’t want to do something that I … was a fan of since I was a kid and watched every morning growing up — and didn’t want to do something that was (1) bad and, (2), I just didn’t know if I wanted to be G.I. Joe.”

When asked if there was any way to escape working on the film, Tatum said, “No option: ‘You’re doing this or we’re gonna sue you.’”

Tatum backtracked after Stern informed him that the picture grossed $302 million (£192 million) worldwide and introduced him to a large number of moviegoers. He acknowledged, “I could have been given … Scream 5, or something where I would have been like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this.'”

He subsequently stated, “I’m super lucky and blessed to have been given that film that was really not all that bad,” but he added that its popularity didn’t necessarily open the doors people might assume. “You get another G.I. Joe script, that’s what you get, or you just get another action movie or something,” Tatum said when asked if life changes after playing the lead in such a big picture. “It does, but maybe not from the people you really want [to be] calling.”

Tatum did not say whether he was also involved in the GI Joe sequel Retaliation, which launched in 2013 to similarly negative reviews.