Pretty HAIRSPRAY star Brittany Snow had to pay for lapdances so she could research her new role as a stripper and prostitute.

The actress is set to shock fans with back to back roles as hookers and exotic dancers in Finding Amanda and Black Water Transit, and her research took her to seedy strip clubs.

Snow reveals the ladies of the nightclubs she visited refused to talk to her and help craft her character - until she paid them for their services.

She explains, "I was at home in Florida for Christmas vacation and so I spent probably about two to three hours a night talking to these girls at strip clubs.

"It was probably the most expensive conversation I've ever had because it was basically getting lap dances while talking to them."

And she was left shocked by some of the stories she was told while strippers gyrated their bodies in front of her: "This one girl described how this guy left bruises all over her arms because he grabbed her so forcefully off the stage and dragged her around and out of the club.

"She was describing it in such a nonchalant, happy way that it made me feel really uncomfortable."

By the time Snow came to play her hooker characters on screen, she had a totally different view of women who sell sex or show off their bodies in stripclubs.

She adds, "I learned a lot about where they were from and their mindset and how they went about getting to that profession.

"I don't agree with it but I think, after talking with these girls, there's definitely a connection that I have to these girls and what they're all about."