Pole Position Gallery

The Oscar-winning actress resorted to a child's toy to get in shape for the role of stripper Cassidy in the drama The Wrestler.

"The hula hoop really opens everything up, especially the hips," said the star who first went topless for the crime thriller Before The Devil Knows Your Dead. "I'd start hooping in my trailer, then go on set."

The My Cousin Vinny actress went as far as interviewing strippers for authenticity in her role as an exotic dancer who falls for a washed-up fighter, played by Mickey Rourke.

"The girls will tell you, it's empowering to strip," she says. "You don't realize it until you see the guys with the I'm-gonna-give-you-money look."

Now, why not check out a gallery of porn stars who've gone legit...