AceShowbiz - Actor Paul Dano prepared himself for his raunchy cross-dressing role in "The Extra Man" by taking private lessons at a New York school for drag queens. The "There Will Be Blood" star admits he was nervous about putting on a red slip and getting spanked by model-turned-actress Patti D'Arbanville in the new film, based on a novel by Jonathan Ames.

So he booked a private lesson in February with Veronica Vera of Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls to make sure he was fully prepared to wear women's wigs and lingerie.

Vera tells the New York Post, "He was a little shy about removing his clothes. He said, 'I don't know if I really want to take off my shirt, I'm kind of skinny.' And so I said everyone has body issues and I ripped his shirt off."