'Hateful Eight' Cast Channing Tatum E-mailed Quentin Torentino Daily to Land Role

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E-mail spam, an almost injury, and a startling realization of what huge stars he was working with—that's what Channing Tatum said of his experience working on Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight," which opens in theaters nationwide on New Year's Day.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 35-year-old "Magic Mike" star visited "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" to talk about how he landed the role and his experiences working on the film, which stars heavy-hitters Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, among others.

"I basically sent about an e-mail a day for about a month just threatening any other actors that might be up for the role," Tatum said. "I was just praying that no one really tough was up for the role."

The "Foxcatcher" and "G.I. Joe" star also joked that he and the other actors vying for the role could be locked up in a room and whoever came out alive would be victorious and would land the role. He said, "I'm so happy that he didn't say, 'Well Mike Tyson is up for this role.'"

Entertainment Weekly reports that according to Tatum, he was given a warm welcome by "Avengers" star Samuel L. Jackson, sharing, "I saw Sam when we came to the table read, and he gives me a big hug and he’s like, ‘Welcome to the family.’"

"That made me feel good, but then everyone else started coming in that are like these amazing heavy-hitters," he recalled. "I start getting terrified."

Because of his nervousness being around such big stars, Tatum admitted he made an embarrassing move when he met Bruce Dern. Cinema Blend reports that according to the actor, "I made this really dumb, overzealous decision and I pull him in really close, and this is at a table read, and I almost pull Bruce Dern out of his chair and he's like, 'You jerk! You almost pulled my arm out of the socket!"

Meanwhile, Russell, who plays the bounty hunter John Ruth spoke to The New York Daily News about just how bloody the film is, as Tarantino insisted on filling each squib with four times more thanthe regular movie prop, to get even more blood splatter.

"You’re going to shoot these scenes a number of times to do it right," Russell explained. It got bloody and the floor got bloody. It got sticky and it got a little uncomfortable."

"The Hateful Eight" follows John Ruth (Rusell) and a fugitive called Daisy (Leigh), a former Union soldier (Jackson), and former Confederate renegade (Walton Goggins) as they find themselves trapped in a cabin with four strangers (Dern, Roth, Michael Madsen, Demian Bichir) as a blizzard hits.

The film opens in select theaters on Dec. 25, and nationwide on Dec. 31.