Adam Rodriguez Shakes Booty in ‘Magic Mike'

(Courtesy of Warner Bros.)

Puerto Rican actor Adam Rodríguez got to show a lot of skin and do some serious booty shaking in the new male stripper movie “Magic Mike,” which comes out in theatres Friday.

“It was liberating,” Rodriguez told Fox News Latino. “It was a chance to completely break free of the serious straightforward manner that you have to play on CSI.”

“You can expect a lot of Latin hotness and butt shaking,” he added.

The fact that it was a stripper movie scared the hell out of me.

— Adam Rodríguez

In the movie, Rodríguez plays Tito, a male dancer for Club Xquisite. This role, says the actor, is a huge departure from his previous role as Detective Eric Delco, a character he’s played on the recently cancelled drama CSI Miami since 2002.

“I would definitely say this is the most out-of-the box character [I’ve played],” Rodríguez said, adding that it was interesting “having to bare… body and soul in front of the camera.”

The cast of male strippers includes veteran actor Matthew McConaughey, “The Vow’s” Channing Tatum and Joe Manganiello.

Rodríguez said he had to prepare for this role just as intensely as any other, committing to a strict diet and intense workouts in order to compete with his ultra fit co-stars.

But the actor reveals that when getting the call for “Magic Mike,” his initial emotion was fear.

“The fact that it was a stripper movie scared the hell out of me” said Rodríguez. He said he thought the role meant he had "to be either naked or in a thong!”

One thing that eased the actor’s hesitation was the movie’s director.

“I was sold as soon as I heard it was a Steven Soderbergh movie,” he said.

Rodríguez said he quickly won the respect of the Oscar-winning director after he performed his big dance routine while filming.

“I’m walking off stage and I did some move,” Rodríguez recalls. “I squatted down and I remember Steven just howling behind the camera and high fiving me.”

Making “Magic Mike” was a new experience for both Rodríguez and Soderbergh, a director known for his serious dramas such as “Traffic” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise.

In the film, Soderbergh strives to reveal what happens after the curtains are closed and the men finish their sensual routines. He gives the audience a peek at what male strippers experience in an industry dominated by females dancers.

To master the role, Rodríguez says he had to learn difficult choreography, and dance in front of dozens of female extras. Nevertheless, the actor said he had no problem being portrayed as a sexual object.

“I enjoyed every second of it,” Rodríguez said confidently. “I’m an actor. I guess that’s what we all want, to be looked [at] and appreciated and be doing something we love to be doing, which is performing.”