Back in 1982, Hollywood star Dustin Hoffman appeared in Tootsie, a film for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
Nominally a comedy, it tells the story of a difficult actor who dresses as a woman to get more film roles.
But for Hoffman the film was far more profound than a simple comedy.
In a 2012 interview with the American Film Institute which has been doing the rounds again, the two-time Oscar winner explained that he had only agreed to make the movie if he could plausibly pass as a woman.
But he went even further, becoming emotional as he explained that he had learned something profound about female beauty.
He said: "Talking to my wife, I said I have to make this picture, and she said, “Why?” And I said, “Because I think I am an interesting woman when I look at myself on screen.
"And I know that if I met myself at a party, I would never talk to that character because she doesn’t fulfill physically the demands that we’re brought up to think women have to have in order to ask them out.” She says, “What are you saying?” And I said, “There’s too many interesting women I have…not had the experience to know in this life because I have been brainwashed.”
His words are especially important given the vile Twitter messages that have been posted about Wimbledon Women's Champion Marion Bartoli, referencing her appearance.
The French tennis player was also described as "not a looker" by BBC host John Inverdale.
