Channing Tatum's Secret Weapon for his Epic Tap Dance in 'Hail, Caesar!' ? His Wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum

The Hail, Caesar! star reveals his wife helped teach him to tap dance; hopes to make a dance-ical with her

Photo: Alison cohen Rosa

Despite the many smooth moves he’s showcased in films like Step-Up and Magic Mike, Channing Tatum‘s latest film role required him to learn a form of dance he’d never tried – tap dance.

Tatum had to master years of training in mere months as part of his preparation for a six-minute song and dance sequence in the Coen Brothers comedy Hail, Caesar!. How did he do it? Hours of daily practice plus coaching sessions from his wife, Jenna Dewan-Tatum.

“We would do about two to three hours everyday and then I would go home and have Jenna help me,” Tatum tells PEOPLE. “She would watch the [choreography] video with me and then go over it with me and then I would do it. What I didn’t understand about tapping is that you’re playing an instrument, you’re a part of the actual song. I’m used to dancing on beat and when you become the beat it is totally a different ball game.”

Unlike Tatum, his wife Jenna has had years of tapping experience, a fact that was initially a point of contention.

“This one hit a real nerve with her because she’s like, ‘What. You’re doing what?’ I was like, ‘Tap dancing.’ She’s like, ‘You don’t even [tap]. I’m an amazing tapper.’ I was like, ‘What?’ I didn’t even know she could tap because there is not a big huge demand for people who can tap dance, I’m hoping after this movie people see how cool it can be and sort of fall back in love with it because it’s a dying [art]”

In addition to his tap dancing, Tatum sings onscreen for the first time in Caesar. What does he think of his singing voice?

“I don’t know,” he says. “My ears go beeeeeeeeeeeep like I hear a dog whistle or something. I just can’t tell. I think I’m tone deaf to my own voice or something, I can’t tell if it’s good or not.” Even his daughter Everly has given him mixed reviews. Tatum jokes that she cries every time he sings.

“Well she cries all the time; she’s 2,” he says with a laugh. “There’s no logic or reasoning. [But] we love singing and dancing. She’s starting to sing now, it’s so fun.”

Speaking of singing and dancing fun, after the glowing reviews and headlines garnered by his and Jenna’s show-stopping appearance on Lip Sync Battle, the multi-talented pair are trying to come up with a full-length song and dance project.

“We want to do a dance-ical,” says Tatum. “It would be so much fun. I don’t know what we’d do specifically, we keep throwing around ideas but, we want to do it. We’re dying to.”

A dance musical starring one of Hollywood’s hottest and most talented couples who fell in love while filming a dance movie?! Pretty sure the rest of the world will be dying to see it. Get on it, Tatums.

Until that project gets off the ground, check out Tatum’s tapping in Hail, Caesar!, in theaters Feb. 5.