Robert De Niro's daughter Airyn comes out as transgender

Airyn De Niro, daughter of Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, opened up about starting hormone therapy and coming out as transgender in a new interview.

Airyn De Niro, daughter of Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, opened up about starting hormone therapy and coming out as transgender in an interview published Tuesday.

De Niro, 29, spoke to Them, an LGBTQ magazine owned by Condé Nast, about feeling she was out of place. De Niro, whose mother is Toukie Smith, described herself as a "late bloomer" who failed to fit in with societal standards growing up.

"I was always told I was too much of something or not enough of something growing up: Too big, not skinny enough," she told the magazine. "Not Black enough, not white enough. Too feminine, not masculine enough. It was never just, ‘You’re just right, just the way you are.’”

She credited the stories of openly transgender women — including Laverne Cox and queer activist Marsha P. Johnson — with inspiring her to embrace her femininity last year.

"Trans women being honest and open, especially [in] public spaces like social media and getting to see them in their success ... I’m like, you know what? Maybe it’s not too late for me,” she said.