Oscar winner Marisa Tomei studied rocker BRET MICHAELS' raunchy reality show ROCK OF LOVE as part of her stripper research for new movie THE WRESTLER.
The actress tried pole dancing too - just to make sure she'd look authentic in her film debut as an exotic dancer.
She explains, "I had a friend who is a yoga teacher and she does a lot of pole dancing so I asked her to teach me. I went to a lot of clubs and watched to see the different styles of dancing.
"I would practice in a dance room with a bar and a mirror, like a ballet studio. I watched Rock of Love, that reality show with Bret Michaels, where he's trying to get a wife and they're all strippers. That was my closest association to the actual world of it."
And her brief flirtation with the world of the stripper has brought Tomei a new love: "I like going to strip clubs now."