Los Angeles- Movie critics have been raving about FELICITY HUFFMAN’s Oscar-nominated performance as a woman playing a man about to become a woman in ‘Transamerica.’ But how did the lovely “desperate housewife” pull off the deep voice and awkward demeanor of her transsexual heroine? She had some of the best coaches in the business.

“Felicity came to our house and talked to us about our personal stories,” says CALPERNIA ADDAMS, a transsexual who helped Felicity learn how to walk and talk. “It was really great how far into it she got.”

Calpernia and ANDREA JAMES are transgendered film producers living in Hollywood with their own company Deep Stealth. Part of Calpernia’s triumphant yet tragic sexual re-assignment story was the basis for the Showtime movie, “Soldier’s Girl,” based on real-life events in Nashville, where her then-soldier boyfriend, Pfc. BARRY WINCHELL, was murdered in his barracks in 1999 for being gay.

Felicity, who wore a wig, girdle and prosthetic male genitalia in the movie, sought out Andrea and Calpernia, who produce DVDs and instructional videos on everything from applying makeup to finding a female voice, to help her capture the “transitioning” character of Bree.

“She wanted to get her voice so it sounded like she was still working on it,” Andrea says, “like she was trying to raise her voice but it still felt a little strained. The movie actually starts with a scene from our video, ‘Finding a Female Voice,’ and Felicity’s character is watching it and working on her voice.”

Calpernia, a former female impersonator once crowned Tennessee Entertainer of the Year, also had a role in the film as a Texas fiddle player. “I play a fiddle player that she meets there. I grew up playing the fiddle so it was fun to bring that into the movie.”

The two ladies say they hope the movie will change stereotypes about real-life transsexuals, some of whom are working in Hollywood today.

“There are transsexual actresses working in Hollywood right now that people don’t know that they are transsexual,” Calpernia says. “They’re actresses like me who go on some auditions and don’t tell and go on some and do tell.”

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