Hoffman feared he'd flunked Graduate audition

Dustin Hoffman feared the worst when he exited his audition for The Graduate, when a prop guy who oversaw his try out insisted he'd need the tokens that fell out of his coat pocket.

The nervous young actor felt sure he'd failed the audition back in 1967, thanks to a few choice words from the unnamed man - but he landed the role that was to make him an international movie star.

He recalls: "I went to shake the prop guy's hand and all my subway tokens fell out (of my pocket).

"He picked them up and handed them back to me saying: 'Here kid, you're gonna need these.'"

Hoffman talked candidly about his life, movie career and Oscar wins on American TV yesterday when he became the 200th guest on in-depth chat show Inside The Actors Studio.