Chad Michael Murray Strips Down in The Merry Gentlemen Photos (Exclusive)

Chad Michael Murray is turning up the heat this Christmas.

PEOPLE has the exclusive first look at The Merry Gentlemen, starring Murray, Britt Robertson and Marla Sokoloff, who also wrote the Netflix holiday film, directed by Peter Sullivan.

The movie follows a former big-city dancer (Robertson) as she travels home for the holidays and stages an all-male, Christmas-themed revue in hopes of saving her parents’ small-town performing venue.

Playing one of those dashing male performers, Murray, 43, tells PEOPLE he saw the movie as an opportunity to do something he’s never done before: learn how to dance. 

“I’d never danced professionally or trained by any means,” he tells PEOPLE. “I love going out and dancing. My wife [Sarah Roemer] and I have danced at a wedding or two and we dance on occasion and we goof around at the house, but nothing to this level.” 

Murray admits it was scary taking on the role at first, but that’s why he decided to do it: “When I see something and it scares the crap out of me, something in me says, ‘Alright, well let’s see what we can do. I’m going to fall flat on my face or have a lot of fun doing it.’ So that was what really pulled me in.”

The star adds of the training, “As we get older, it’s not as easy as it used to be when we were in our 20s, so it was a lot of work, dedication and focus. … We were doing six-hour days in the dance hall. I got there before all the other guys so that I could learn the majority of all the things before they got there, because some of the guys have previous dance training. I wanted to be ahead of the curve so that I wasn’t holding anybody back. If I was going to do this, I wanted to be all in.”

Murray says the physical transformation was all “very intense” but, ultimately, “I love a good challenge.” 

Robertson, 34, says her costar was fully “immersed” during her first interaction with him at dance rehearsal, including wearing “full out hip-hop gear” and knee pads.

“He seemed to put a lot of effort into it and he cared a lot,” she says. “I always think that’s a good sign when your actors care about what they’re doing. So I was impressed!”

Meanwhile, Sokoloff, 43, says she was blown away by Murray and Robertson’s kindness on set, as well as their impressive abs.

“I have never been around so many people that have such impressive abdominal muscles — including Brit!” the Full House alum quips. “Not to mention how lovely they all were. The set was super fun. I loved chatting with Chad about our time in the early aughts, and how we had so many mutual friends but never met or worked together before.” 

When asked which was harder, learning dance moves for The Merry Gentlemen or practicing basketball for One Tree Hill, Murray says basketball. He adds that he developed such a love for dancing on the set of this Netflix film that he is already look for new ways he can foster that passion.

As for how the new movie compares to other Netflix holiday hits, Sokoloff jokes that this one certainly has more “hot topless men,” with Murray adding that they were able to “push the envelope a little bit” here.

Though his wife wasn’t on set with him for the dance scenes, he says that she was a bit “nervous” about the film when he first showed her behind-the-scenes footage.

“She was like, ‘Oh my God, what are you making?’ Because depending on how you shoot it and how you light it, it could be a completely different film,” he says, noting he was adamant about hitting the right “tone” with the movie. “It’s a fine line to thread a Christmas movie and strippers and to make it work, right? It’s not the first thing that comes to your mind when you think Christmas. So for us, it was really making sure that the tone’s right.” 

“This isn’t your standard, formatted genre piece for the holidays,” Murray adds. “We’re doing a male dance revue, so it’s something to get a little hot and bothered under the collar, which is great, but the romance is there, the sparks are flying, we’ve got some great comedy beats in there that you’re going to laugh out loud.” 

Robertson hopes fans appreciate all the different types of performance art throughout the film, including her favorite, tap dancing.

“A lot of hard work and effort went into choreographing them,” she says of the dance numbers. “It’s sort of at the heart of the film, so I hope people can appreciate that.” Though, she jokes, “The boys are pretty cute too! They get a very shirts-off, abs-out kind of look. It’s really the reason you want to watch! I’m just the decoration.”

“It’s a different take on Christmas movies,” Sokoloff adds. “I, for one, love, love, love holiday movies, but this one has a different and fun vibe and something for everyone — and I’m not just saying that because I’m the writer! Chad and Britt are such a magical combo. … I just smile so big when watching them together.” 

The Merry Gentlemen — which also stars Beth Broderick, Michael Gross, Maxwell Caulfield, Hector David Jr., Colt Prattes and Marc Anthony Samuel — is on Netflix Nov. 20.