Method acting is something that only a handful of thespians can pull off — Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Shia LaBeouf and the late Heath Ledger are just a few prime examples of Hollywood stars who really know how to embody a role. For actress Constance Wu, she took the term into a different direction for her praised performance as a stripper in the 2019 film Hustlers by, well, actually flexing her pole-dancing skills at an actual strip club.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TIFF
Seen above with the cast and crew of Hustlers during the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival a week before the film arrived in theaters, Wu stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show to confirm that she got prepared for the role by giving lap dances to strangers at a strip club one night, even pocketing an impressive $600 on her first day on the job. She tells Kelly that her disguise included fake neck tattoos and hair extensions so she would go unnoticed. While we’re sure most ladies of the night don’t nail the art of pole-dancing on their first try, Constance says of the experience, “When you’re naked, they don’t care if you’re that good.” Good point!
Watch Constance Wu discuss the semantics of stripping on The Kelly Clarkson Show below, and let us know if you’d have the courage to go that far for a role: