Julia Stiles Says She Was 'Dying' to Be a Part of 'Hustlers' With Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B (Exclusive) 

The actress calls J.Lo's performance in the upcoming stripper movie 'phenomenal.'

It didn't take much convincing -- or any at all, really -- to get Julia Stiles to join the cast of Hustlers. 

ET spoke with the actress at the 10th Annual DVF Awards in New York City on Thursday, where she revealed she was "dying" to be a part of the upcoming Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu and Cardi B starrer. 

"Sign me up!" Stiles said of her reaction to being approached to join the cast. "Yes, I was dying to be a part of this movie. I told Lorene Scafaria, the director, when we met, 'I will do anything. I will do craft service, I will make coffee for the crew, I don't care. I just want to be a part of it, because it's such an interesting story.'"

Hustlers is inspired by a viral New York Magazine article about a crew of savvy former strip club employees who banded together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients. Stiles said she was entranced by the article before she even knew she could help bring the story to screen. 

"I play Jessica Pressler, who is the the journalist who covered the story, and so I interview all of the dancers," she said, explaining that her character is living a "straight and narrow life" compared to the dancers, and starts off a bit judgmental of them. "She then comes around to really sympathizing and understanding the position that they were in that made them resort to this, and also kind of appreciating -- its a dangerous thing to say -- that these women were entrepreneurs." 

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for DVF Awards

Stiles has already had a few days of filming, mostly with Wu and Lopez -- who she couldn't stop raving over. "[J.Lo] is phenomenal in this movie," she exclaimed. 

"If you've seen at all on Instagram, her body looks amazing," Stiles declared. "There's the pole dancing, the hair, the nails, the makeup, but working opposite of her in a scene, it took everything in me to keep my jaw closed, because she's not J.Lo. It's a different person and it's so not a performance."

"I couldn't tell where it began and where it ended," she added, clearly entranced by the superstar. "It's really going to be exciting to see her in this movie." 

Hustlers is expected to hit theaters in 2020, but this year marks a big milestone for Stiles -- the 20th anniversary of 10 Things I Hate About You. Watch below. 

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