MATTHEW VAUGHN - VAUGHN PERSUADES DE NIRO TO WEAR A DRESS

British filmmaker MATTHEW VAUGHN was apprehensive about asking ROBERT DE NIRO to take on a role in his new movie STARDUST - he plays a can-can dancing, transvestite pirate. The 36-year-old, who is married to supermodel Claudia Schiffer, didn't know how to broach the subject of the character's cross-dressing tendencies, so he kept quiet until De Niro got suspicious about the role. He says, "We had a meeting about the film and half-way through nothing had been said, so I started to get nervous. I kept thinking, 'When is he going to ask about the dress?', but he didn't say anything. "Then as I was leaving, Bob turned round and said, 'One last question. Am I gay or a transvestite?' I told him he could play it however he liked!"