Joe Manganiello Scores With Stripper Doc

Making headlines this week is Joe Manganiello, who returns to the world of stripping following his role as Big Dick Richie in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike. The actor made his directorial debut with La Bare, a documentary about a popular Texas male strip club, on Sunday at Slamdance Film Festival. Within days, Manganiello scored a six-figure distribution deal to bring the film to theaters in North America.

Inspired by his turn as a male stripper, Manganiello interest in the world grew.

"I had zero interest in male stripping prior to Magic Mike. As a straight male, I had a lot of misperceptions about the industry," Manganiello told Entertainment Weekly. "I had a really good friend who once mumbled under his breath that he'd been a male dancer in the 90s. I just let that one go, I didn't pry at all, I didn't want to know anything. But when I got the offer from Steven to do Magic Mike, he was my first phone call. When I sat down with him, the stories that he told were nothing of what I expected, and really just mind-blowing. It was sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. It was the rock star lifestyle."

The film is a "lively package" of eye-candy, including two featured strippers: Randy Ricks, a former competitive bodybuilder, and Ruben "Angelo" Riguero, a well-liked character deemed the best stripper at the club.

Want to check out more? EW has an exclusive trailer of the film.