Warren Beatty calls transgender son Stephen 'my hero' and reveals he went on a 'soulful' walk with Marilyn Monroe the night before she died

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Warren Beatty may be a legend in Hollywood, but when it comes to picking his own hero the answer is easy: His transgender son. 

The famously private actor and director has publicly spoken for the first time about his son Stephen Ira's gender identity, calling the 24-year-old activist a 'revolutionary'.

'He's a genius, and my hero, as are all my children,' Beatty told Vanity Fair in his first in-depth interview in 25 years. 

Stephen, who was born Kathlyn Elizabeth, identified as transitioned at the age of 14. 

Famously private icon Warren Beatty has publicly spoken for the first time about his son Stephen Ira's gender identity, calling the 24-year-old transgender activist his 'hero' 

Stephen, who was born Kathlyn Elizabeth, identified as transitioned at the age of 14

He is also a poet and a writer, and is the eldest of Beatty's children with actress Annette Bening. 

Bening was pregnant with Stephen in 1991 when Beatty, now 79, gave his last major interview while editing his film Bugsy. 

It was on the set of that very film that Beatty, one of Hollywood's most famous Casanovas, would fall for Bening - who he cast as his co-star. 

Just months earlier, he had told the Academy Award-nominated actress: 'I want you to know that I'm not going to come on to you.' 

But, after an incredible string of famous lovers, it was Bening who stole Beatty's heart for good at the age of 54. 

He called the late director Mike Nichols and told him he was going to marry Annette. 

Nichols replied: 'Well, there's one thing you should know about her...She's perfect.' 

Before Bening there was a long list of celebrity women whose hearts Beatty had allegedly won. 

'He's a genius, and my hero, as are all my children,' Beatty said of Stephen (pictured here before his transition with siblings Isabel, Ella and Benjamin and mother Annette Bening) 

Stephen is the eldest child of Beatty and Annette Bening, who fell in love on the set of his film Bugsy in 1991. After a string of famous lovers, Beatty's heart was stolen by the actress 

The Bonnie & Clyde star has been linked to musical legends like Cher and Madonna, supermodels such as Elle Macpherson, and a bevy of actresses including Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Brigitte Bardot and Barbara Streisand - among many others.

Beatty even shared a stroll on the beach with Marilyn Monroe, although he said it was more 'soulful than romantic'. 

He had met Monroe that very night, at the Malibu home of Rat Pack actor Peter Lawford. 

Monroe asked him his age and sat at the edge of the piano as he played, wearing an outfit so clingy that Beatty could tell she wasn't wearing underwear. 

Beatty recalled that she was already tipsy from the champagne before the sun set. 

Beatty was one of the last people to see Marilyn Monroe alive. He met the icon at a Malibu home the night before she died 

The next day, he got a phone call: ‘Did you hear? Marilyn Monroe is dead', he was told. 

Beatty was one of the last people to see her alive. 

But Beatty has plenty of funny and surreal stories too from his 60 years working in Hollywood. 

There was the instance when Andy Warhol 'It girl' Edie Sedgwick showed up to his New York hotel room wearing a yellow rain coat - and nothing else.

It was the night Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. They spent the rest of their time together watching the television.

And there was the time Beatty was so desperate for a part in Tennessee Williams' new film adaptation that he flew out to Puerto Rico to convince the playwright he was the right man for the job. 

Beatty wanted to play the part of Paolo, the Italian gigolo in Williams' novel The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone. 

But there was just one problem - Williams only wanted the part to be played by an Italian, news that was crushing to the Virginia-born actor. 

So Beatty bought a ticket to Puerto Rico, where Williams was hiding out after his most recent play received terrible reviews. 

He spotted him in a casino and had one of the waiters send him a note that read: 'Whatever you say. Paolo'. 

Beatty, who starred in Bonnie & Clyde with Faye Dunaway, has worked in Hollywood as an actor, director, screenwriter and producer for nearly 60 years 

Beatty made his film debut in Splendor in the Grass (pictured here with Barbara Loden) 

The Hollywood hearthrob has been linked to the likes of Cher, Madonna, Elle Macpherson, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Brigitte Bradot and Barbara Streisand - among many others

Williams turned around, spotted him, and said: 'All right, you've got the fucking part.' 

Now Beatty is getting back in the director's chair for the first time since 1998 with Rules Don't Apply, the first film he has starred in for more than a decade. 

Beatty will be playing the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes', who the actor has been compared to often in recent years with his own similarly reclusive behavior. 

But the legend said he is grateful that he has been in the position to spend so many years away from Tinseltown, to focus instead on raising the 'four, small Eastern European countries that live in our house', as he has dubbed his children. 

'I think I've been lucky enough not to have to do movie after movie for financial reasons,' he said. 'I've been able to live my life, and also make movies.' 

'I didn't have to grind them out. I could go long periods where I was living life, rather than tripping over cables.' 

'Sometimes life just takes over, as it has taken over with four kids, in a way that has been more wonderful than I could have imagined at an earlier age.'   

Beatty (pictured with Bening in 1999) is now returning to the big screen after more than a decade away, saying he has enjoyed spending his time focusing on his family instead