Channing Tatum, who started his career as a model, is having a full-circle moment as he stars in his first fragrance campaign for Versace. “That was always kind of like the big job. You wanted to get the fragrance thing, and I just never was like one of the big, big models,” Tatum recently told Vanity Fair. “And just to get to step into this place in my life, I’ve sort of been doing everything that I’ve always wanted to do. Now I’ve directed, and I’m getting to do some of the types of movies that I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a real kind of climactic moment in general, and in my life and in my personal life. And to get to check this off and be like, Man, I’m getting to do something that I always dreamed about, but just not in the way and the timing that I always thought I was going to get to do it—you never know when things are going to come around.”

In a spot for the brand’s new eau de parfum pour homme, Eros Energy, the Blink Twice actor is reimagined as Eros, the mythological Greek god of love, running in the race of his life toward his passions and goals. It’s a fitting association for a fragrance inspired by the Mediterranean coastline, with notes of blood orange, pink peppercorn, black currant, and patchouli.

“It just smelled so fresh and energetic. I think of my senses as kind of my mood in a way,” Tatum said. “I think of the scent as the last garnish on a meal or like the cherry on top. You know, you craft your outfit, you do your hair, and then the last thing is you put your scent on and then you go. It’s sort of the last signature on your intention for the day.”

Before the campaign’s release, Tatum spoke to Vanity Fair about playing Eros, what he’s most passionate about, and what it was like to work alongside his partner, Zoë Kravitz, on her directorial debut, Blink Twice.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Vanity Fair: You’ve had a long-standing relationship with Versace. Tell me how this all got started.

Channing Tatum: It goes all the way back to when I was just a model; I would go to Milan, and that was one of the first shows every season for the Italian shows. I would stand in the line and with my little book of pictures as a model, and you just hope to get to walk. But I actually never got to walk for them. I think I got close to one of their campaigns, but it didn’t happen.

So then I became an actor, and they’ve just been really good to me throughout the years, and I got to go to the Met with them. I just really love Donatella [Versace]. She’s just such an icon. It doesn’t really get more iconic than her. She’s seen it all, done it all, but it’s still her. It’s still her and her brother’s brand; it’s still a family thing. As someone that runs my own businesses now, but I’m still like a hometown kid, I love when people really love what they do and put their actual life and passion into it, and not just look at it like it’s a chess piece on a larger business sort of model. You can just tell she cares, and I’m just so glad to be involved on a more intimate level now with her.

What I’ve always loved about the brand is that while it is one of the younger Italian brands, it is truly quintessential ’80s/’90s. And while we must acknowledge Gianni for his foresight in starting the brand, what we know Versace as today, and the past 27 years, is all Donatella.

I’m an ’80s/’90s baby, and I think that’s why the brand does mean so much to me. When you say Versace, you just go, Oh, you made it! You did the thing. It’s like Versace good.

The campaign video is reminiscent of the Olympics, which is quite interesting. Did you do any particular training for this?

I’m constantly training, so I didn’t do any specific training for it. I was running and it’s mostly what I do in the commercial. What’s hard about my job is that I basically fluctuate in weight like crazy. Because of one role, I need to be looking like I work out five times a day and don’t eat anything, and then the next movie I’m supposed to be a dad with a dad bod. So I’m kind of always doing special training for whatever particular thing is coming up.

Now I want to talk about the fragrance name. We all know that Eros is the mythological Greek god of love, so what does love mean to you?

Oh man. Love can mean so many different things. It’s the one thing, I think, that nobody’s ever been able to agree upon. Scientists have tried to study it, poets have written about it forever—and musicians—and no one can really grasp what it actually means, and I think that’s why it’s special. To me, when you love someone or you love something, it’s the need and the want to care for it. The want to wake up every day to nurture it and to protect it and just to live passionately through it and with it.

Do you have any love languages?

I don’t even know what all of the love languages are.

They are physical touch, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and words of affirmation.

I think touch and time for me. I’m a pretty physical and tactile person. And just when someone just really wants to spend time with you, it just feels [special]. Because time’s the one thing we can never have enough of. Tomorrow’s not promised, and at some point in your life the ticker is going to stop, and you spend all that in the best possible way.

What I see the most on dating apps are guys sharing their love languages.

Really?! That’s hilarious. I love that guys even know what love languages are.

They have to do what they have to do.

[Laughs]

What would you say you’re most passionate about today?

I used to say creating. And I think I always appreciated that I got to create. I never intended to become an actor. I never really intended to do very much in my life, and the fact that I kind of won the lottery into this career and everything I've been allowed to do was such a gift in a way. And now I say creating, but I really mean creating in life. Like waking up every day and just going, Okay, what’s the day that we want to create today? Do we want to cook breakfast and have coffee in bed, or do I want to go dirt biking with my little girl or something? You can do anything; you have all of the infinite choices at your behest, and the ones that you choose matter. That would be probably my biggest thing right now, just wanting to spend the time that I have in the right way and be proud of the days that I created with the people I love.

Does the fragrance bring up any kind of feeling or remind you of something or someone?

You know, that feeling of summer where you’re just excited to go and have a summer? I don’t know, it gives me energy. I’m like, Alright, let’s go! That’s the feeling I can think of that it evokes for me, because it doesn’t really smell like anything from my childhood. And that’s actually what I like about it; it’s sort of a new anchor for those sensory memories. It’s just that fresh, new beginning, the unknown of what’s going to come in, like, summer or spring.

Since the fragrance triggers summer for you, could you describe your perfect summer vacation?

Oh, that’s a good question because I have lots of answers and I am trying to pick just one.

My perfect summer sort of day would be that we probably wake up late, like 12 p.m., and then my partner, my little girl, and all my friends, we’re all going to go meet somewhere. We’re going to meet at the beach, or it could be at the lake, or just somewhere to just sit and just be with each other and hang out. Maybe there’s some activity, but it doesn’t have to be. We can just kind of lay around with each other and each other is the entertainment. And then just take that literally all the way into the nighttime. I just love being with the people I love.

Before we go, I want to talk about your upcoming film, Blink Twice, which marks your partner Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut. What was working together like?

I can’t wait for you to see it. I can’t wait for the world to see it. On so many different levels, it’s something different from what I’ve ever done. Zoë is a real, real director. This is not a movie that feels like someone’s first movie. She’s a beast. I was sort of obsessed with her mind and the way she thought about things. She’s unbelievably witty, but funny. I’ll sort of put people in buckets—“this is bad, this is good.” Some people are very cerebral; they lead with their mind and their logic. Other people lead with their heart and are very intuitive and emotional. And for me, Zoë is just incredibly balanced with both of them. She kind of leads from both places and that is very rare, because she’s got an insanely big brain in that little tiny head of hers. But she’s got a giant heart as well. She’s just obsessed with creating, and I think that’s where we really hit it off.

She brought me this story that was called Pussy Island that we ended up having to change the title. And when Zoë Kravitz brings you something called Pussy Island, you’re going to read it! And this thing was just wild. It was unlike anything I had ever really read. And it went on, like, its own journey. And she went on her own journey with being a director, creator, and a writer, and I was just really grateful to be along the journey with her. At that time I kind of stopped acting for a little while and took, like, four or five years off, and then this thing kind of came into my life and just sort of reinvigorated me to create again. It kind of made me fall back in love with movies. And that was just working on it, not even doing the movie, and then getting to go do the movie with your partner is a really special thing.

Everybody always asks me, “Did you survive? How did you do it? That was dangerous, you know.” And I actually say now, if you’re going to get married, if you’re going to have a kid, I implore you to go find the hardest possible project that you can find with your partner and do it, and not just if you survive it, but if you enjoy doing it with them. I love to have Zoë’s perspective on things. I almost need it now. I rely on her as just my counterpoint, “Am I seeing this correctly? Am I feeling this out right? You know, how do you feel about it?” She’s just a necessity for me and all of my life now. So getting to make the movie was really special.

I feel like now you’re inspiring us all to find our mate to create with. Do you see yourselves doing more projects together?

Yeah, we’ll be making things until we’re old and gray. They’ll be our little movie babies.