Alex Pettyfer "danced like a duck" prior to his striptease training for the movie Magic Mike.

The actor joked that until he saw himself dance on camera, he had wrongly believed he could rival talented mover Chris Brown.

Alex, who portrays an inexperienced stripper in the film, had to dramatically improve his moves before he could convince in his role.

"At the clubs, I thought I could dance like Chris Brown. But then I realised that I really danced like a duck," he told NY Daily News.

Alex also spoke about the differences between male and female stripping.

The 22-year-old believes the masculine version is more light-hearted and entertaining in some ways, while female exotic dancers are more erotic but also have a shrewd attitude to their work.

"Male stripping is more of an event. It's not as personal as when a man goes to a strip club and gets a lap dance," he said. "There's this showmanship onstage in front of the women. But behind the curtain, there is this political world where everyone feels and acts like they're an entrepreneur and the stripping is just temporary."