"Magic Mike" fans will undoubtedly remember the scene where 19-year-old Adam (Alex Pettyfer) makes his debut as a stripper. At first Adam only signed up as a prop guy, but the Kings of Tampa need a replacement at the last minute, so they push Adam onto the stage and start playing the song "Like a Virgin." The rest is history.
Pettyfer gave a convincing portrayal as a first-time stripper, not least because he was a first-time stripper himself. "It was the first time I had ever really been onstage in front of an audience," he shared in an interview with E! News. He added that it was a much different experience than performing when his only audience was a camera. The actor explained that Steven Soderbergh filmed both Pettyfer and the audience at once, so viewers are seeing the crowd's real reactions to his dance in the final film.
Of course, after the scene in question, Pettyfer needed to get plenty of practice to dance like a professional stripper. At first, Pettyfer assumed he wouldn't need any training, but watching some footage of himself dancing quickly disavowed him of that notion. "At the clubs, I thought I could dance like Chris Brown," he admitted to The New York Daily News. "But then I realized that I really danced like a duck." Soon enough, however, Pettyfer became comfortable dancing. He told the Daily News, "By the end of the film, I just wanted to be out on stage."
