Channing Tatum and Ex-Wife Jenna Dewan See ‘Eye to Eye’ on This Part of Raising Their Daughter

Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan may not be together anymore, but they co-parent very well. In addition to refusing to put their daughter, Everly, on social media, the actors also share another thing in common when it comes to raising her. Tatum revealed that they aren’t down to allow their daughter to enter into show business as a child star in a new interview with PEOPLE. “Jenna and I, we’ve always met eye to eye on this one. It’s pretty tough to be a child actor or artist,” he said while promoting his new book The One and Only Sparkella Makes a Plan and the upcoming live-action film adaptation based on the books.

“I also believe that if you really want to be a beautiful artist, you have to go live a real-life,” he added. “And I think kids in Hollywood, in general, there’s a lot of things that are standing in the way to living a very normal life in the world.”

Despite such, he says he enjoyed sharing the experience working on Sparkella with his 9-year-old daughter. He says Everly inspired the two books’ major plot points and also advised on a few color schemes and tutu designs for the characters. But when it comes to any direct involvement in the upcoming movie as far as being on-camera, Tatum says it’s not the time.

“I can’t say ‘yes’ in this moment,” he said firmly. “Definitely not being the lead of the movie. That’s never, ever going to happen. Maybe when she’s 18, if she wants, if it takes us that long to make the movie, then great,” he added. “When she’s 18, she’s lived a full life and she can make her own decisions, then I will put her in anything and everything that I can possibly put her in because she’ll be the coolest thing in the world and she is the coolest thing in the world.”

Tatum’s comments came a few days before he spoke about his fears about parenting after divorce. “I wasn’t sure what to do with a little strong little girl. I grew up very, very, very different from her. So, I was nervous,” he said in an interview with Fatherly’s Matt Berical “I think writing these books is my way of trying to get specific about what I’ve learned because being a kid is messy. And learning to be a parent is probably messier than being a kid.”