Hoffman is on the top flaw

I play Rusty, a female impersonator. Nothing about me, behaviourally or vocally or in my mind, is anything like Rusty. But in the film I'm never out of drag, either a natural feminine outfit, or full drag, the whole nine yards.

Robert De Niro is Walt, an ex-cop who lives in the same apartment block. He has a stroke. He's physically harmed; it hurts him deeply to be in that condition. I help him, and in the end, he helps me.

I remember standing in the elevator, waiting for him to open it, and all of a sudden I panicked because, as I heard the footsteps coming to the door, I realised, "Phil, when that door opens it's going to be Robert De Niro. It's not going to be your dad or your brother or something, it's going to be De Niro." I started panicking, my heart started racing. Actually, he's patient. He works very hard physically.

I was also frightened that I wouldn't be accepted by the cross-dressing community, that they would think I was a fake, but I worked hard and the exact opposite happened - they took me in and considered me legitimate. They're just guys.