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Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash, Joe Manganiello, Channing Tatum and Adam Rodriguez in Magic Mike XXL (Claudette Barius/Warner Bros. Pictures)

With the attention garnered by the 2012 comedy-drama Magic Mike, its sequel, Magic Mike XXL, hopes to become the movie of the summer as it ventures to new heights with daring routines and entertaining performances from an all-star cast.

Three years after his departure from Xquisite Strip Club, Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) succeeds with his plans of opening a custom-furniture business. His fellow male entertainers from Xquisite, the “Kings of Tampa” (Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez and Gabriel Iglesias), pay him a visit, inviting him to join them once again for a final performance at a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mike is persuaded and joins the Kings of Tampa for the performance of a lifetime.

The cast recently discussed their Magic Mike moments, from thrilling routines to memories on set in what came to be Magic Mike XXL.

Living Out Loud-Los Angeles: How long did it take to execute the choreography for this film?
Channing Tatum: We had a good amount of time. I don’t know exactly the amount of days, but everybody showed up. Everybody came and was like, “We’re going to do it this time. “We couldn’t fit all the dance routines in the first movie, so we designed this film to film the dancing a little bit better and were able to show them all. The first film was kind of tethered to reality and not all that interesting. I told them if we were going to do another film I didn’t want to do another fireman routine on stage. I think all these guys brought their own thing to it.

LOL-LA: Do you see this as the chick flick of the summer?
Joe Manganiello: We’re going to get all the guys, trust me. Terminator doesn’t stand a chance.

LOL-LA: Do you have a special memory from the shoot?
Kevin Nash: Even though we had the experience of the first film, the great thing about signing up for this the second time is that you already know what’s going to happen.
Matt Bomer: Seeing the mini-mart scene with Joe was just mind-blowing. I was standing behind the camera wanting popcorn. I’ll never look at mini-marts the same way ever again.
J.M.: Everything in our careers has led us to this performance. We were out in a karaoke bar in Tampa, and I dared Matt to sing a Jon Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory.” He sang it so well, nailed every note. Matt killed it so bad that he got a free bottle of water. I remember the next day on set I told the directors that we need to get Matt to sing.
C.T.: We really did meet friends for the rest of our lives, and through that, you can see it in the movie – all the friendships we’ve made. That last scene was the last thing we shot in the movie.

Magic Mike XXL is now in theaters.

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