Magic Michael! Television personality Michael Strahan announced on Monday, Sept. 29, that he has joined the cast of the hotly anticipated Magic Mike sequel, Magic Mike XXL.
The former NFL star, 42, officially signed on for the gig after he joked for months about being involved in the male stripper film. He repeatedly busted a move and bantered about the opportunity with the movie’s star, Channing Tatum, when he appeared on Live! with Kelly and Michael.
“I’m getting ready to do something that’s making me really nervous,” he said on his talk show on Monday. “I’m about to do something that started as a joke here on the show… [Tatum] wrote me in to the next Magic Mike XXL movie.”
Strahan is fully committing to his new role, as he told co-host Kelly Ripa that he has been working out, and gave some hints about his part in the movie. He even wondered aloud whether he needs to be waxed.
“The wardrobe guy called me the other day,” he explained. “After the conversation, I said, ‘Why did he even bother to call me to talk about wardrobe?’ Apparently, there ain’t nothing to be worn.”
Strahan isn’t the only new addition to the Magic Mike XXL cast, which already includes alums Tatum, Matt Bomer, and Joe Manganiello, among others. Warner Bros. announced on Monday that the sequel will also feature Community star Donald Glover, as well as Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, Amber Heard, and Andie MacDowell. Absent from the movie’s lineup is Magic Mike star Matthew McConaughey, who will not appear in the sequel.
Due out on July 1, 2015, Magic Mike XXL‘s plot synopsis was also made available this week.
“Picking up the story three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, Magic Mike XXL finds the remaining Kings of Tampa likewise ready to throw in the towel,” reads the press release. “But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and with legendary headliner Magic Mike sharing the spotlight with them. On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways.”
