We’re still not over the Hustlers snubs at this year’s Oscars—but we’re loving this new story about Constance Wu’s time researching her role as the stripper Destiny in the movie.
Wu appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday,February 17 and revealed some behind-the-scenes intel about her preparation. “I did work at a strip club to get ready for Hustlers,” she said. “I went undercover. I gave lap dances to strangers.”
But that’s not all. The Fresh Off the Boat star actually took home some serious cash for her efforts. “I’m not lying! I made $600 my first night. I am not being funny, and it was not funny,” Wu said. “I put fake tattoos on my neck, I 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.”
Watch the interview below.
In Hustlers, Wu plays a single mom in New York City who joins forces with Jennifer Lopez’s character, Ramona, and two other dancer friends to steal money and valuables from rich clients during the 2008 financial crisis. The film, written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, was based on a true story chronicled in a New York magazine article.
Constance Wu previously said she visited a number of strip clubs to get into character and even installed a pole in her house. “I went to a lot of strip clubs in San Francisco — that’s what I spent my Christmas Eve doing,” she told Vulture.
“I installed a pole in my living room. I took pole classes; I took private coaching sessions,” she added. “And this was all stuff I paid for by myself before we even started the movie. I became friends with a couple of strippers.”
Given the box office success of the film, we’d say all that research paid off.
