Constance Wu stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show Monday to prove that not all the shocking stories about Hustlers have been told. The Crazy Rich Asians star revealed she stripped undercover while researching her role in the movie, earning $600. Hustlers was a big hit at the box office last year and earned Wu’s co-star Jennifer Lopez a Golden Globe nomination.
“I did work at a strip club to get ready for Hustlers. I went undercover. I gave lap dances to strangers,” Wu told Kelly Clarkson, who did not believe her.
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“I’m not lying! I made $600, my friend,” Wu insisted. “I am not being funny, and it was not funny. I put fake tattoos on my neck, changed my hair. You can’t duplicate the first time you walk into a club and say, ‘Hey, I’d like to have a job here,’ and then you go work that night.”
Hustlers was written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, and was based on Jessica Pressler’s New York Magazine article about a group of strippers who scammed rich men by drugging them and running up their credit cards following the 2008 financial crisis. Wu played Dorothy, a stripper who struggled to support herself and her child until she met Ramona (Lopez) and launched their scheme. The all-star cast also includes Julia Stiles, Lili Reinhart, Kiki Palmer and Mercedes Ruehl.
In an interview with Vulture last year, Wu said visiting strip clubs in San Francisco was part of her research for the film. She also put a pole in her living room and took classes to prepare.
“I installed a pole in my living room,” the Fresh Off The Boat actress explained. “I took pole classes; I took private coaching sessions. And this was all stuff I paid for by myself before we even started the movie.”
“I became friends with a couple of strippers,” Wu continued. “I went to a lot of strip clubs in San Francisco — that’s what I spent my Christmas Eve doing. I went with two of my guy friends, and we went to five different clubs. It was so f— fun. And nobody knew who I was. I’m not really that famous. Also nobody expects this sitcom mother of three boys to be in a strip club.”
While making Hustlers was fun for Wu, the actress said she has no desire to see it. She has not seen anything she has made since Crazy Rich Asians.
“It was watching that movie, after that experience, that I stopped watching anything,” she said on Live with Kelly and Ryan, reports PEOPLE. “I didn’t watch my talk show appearances or Fresh Off the Boat or Hustlers… Just because I thought, you know, I want to focus on the present and not be self-critical and think too much, dwell too much on the past.”
Fresh Off The Boat airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
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