Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill talk "21 Jump Street"

(CBS News) Channing Tatum isn't known in the movie business as a comedic actor. So when Jonah Hill called him up about doing "21 Jump Street," a comedy remake of the popular late '80s TV show, Tatum thought the fellow actor and screenwriter had the wrong number.

But he didn't.

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Hill said he was looking to make "21 Jump Street" into a "Bad Boys meets a John Hughes movie" and he needed the best actor currently in the action world to make the movie. So he called Tatum.

"I really was wondering if he had the wrong number," Tatum said on "CBS This Morning." "And essentially, I made him promise he would make me funny."

"Or he'd hurt me," Hill said.

(While on the set of "CBS This Morning," Hill jokingly complained that his photo hadn't been added to the wall of guests. At left, watch the video to see Gayle King remedy the situation.)

In "21 Jump Street," Tatum and Hill play underachieving cops who are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.

While making the movie about the cop partners, Tatum and Hill said they became fast friends.

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"It was a lot of fun," Tatum said. "It was one of the first movies where you can see we actually enjoyed doing it through the film. We're the greatest friends now, and when you see me laugh on screen, you can tell me it's me really laughing."

Hill added, "Every movie should have a great discovery in it. Not saying this because I love the guy and I'm in the movie or whatever, but I think Channing really walks away with the movie because it's a surprise. You're not used to seeing him do something like this. When you see someone do something they've never done, it's wonderful because you get a surprise out of it."

For more Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill on "21 Jump Street," the Oscars and more, watch the full "CBS This Morning" interview in the player above.