Philip Hoffman Quotations

I wish there was a podium here - you wouldn't see my knees shaking.

If we hit Truman's part right, it would reverberate. So that's what I concentrated on: Getting it right.

She brought up four kids alone, and for that she deserves congratulations. She took me to my first play ... and her passions became my passions.

She brought up four kids alone, and she deserves a congratulations for that. Be proud, Ma, because we're here tonight and it's so good.

I have known Bennett a long time, ... I know a lot about him and he knows a lot about me, and I never doubted he would make the best film possible.

I did have hesitations and just knew that if I made the story the main character and really worked on that to fulfill it in a very personal and soulful way, that all the technical stuff about playing him would become secondary for people watching the movie.

But because of his intelligence, his wit and his insightfulness and his kind of all-consuming warmth, that would go away.

when he was becoming more and more diseased. I was trying to capture the man at the height of his powers.

If that stuff does transpire, I'm very excited. I think I would be more nerve-wracked or nervous if it was just about me as an actor, ... But it is more than that/ What if a ton of people saw this movie ... our first film? Awards season can always help a film that way.

I thought, If we never get the money, we'll all be off the hook.

I went (to rehab), I got sober when I was 22 years old. You get panicked ... and I got panicked for my life.

I think I'm like any actor, most actors it's kind of inbred in you that you're never going to work again even if you are working a lot.

I was given the best part of my life, basically, and I know that.

I would vouch for those two in the room with a very strong conviction. I was saying to the executives, 'If you believe in me, believe in them.' We kind of all went out on a limb together.

You know, I literally lost all control of my bowels up there. I couldn't think. I was swimming in my head. So I was lucky to get out what I got out.

That's what attracted me to it. I wasn't interested in doing it if it was just going to be about trying to portray Truman Capote and if I could be successful or not. It really was about the inevitability of a tragedy unfolding.

We're at the party, mom. Be proud mom, because I'm proud of you.

Wow, I'm in a category with some great, great, great actors, fantastic actors, and I'm overwhelmed. Really overwhelmed.

To play a bad guy in an action movie is something I've never done, and I don't know if I'll ever do it again. So this is really that opportunity, and it's the perfect place to do it, perfect people to do it with.

Be proud, Mom, because I'm proud of you, and we're here tonight, and it's so good.

When I started studying him, then became semi-obsessed with him, I saw the parallels, ... In our ages, that we're both artists, in the price that's paid for going after something with complete focus, with blinders on. And the discovery that what you wish for most probably won't bring you happiness.

Everything changed after that, ... He became consumed with the story, with success. He was never the same. Writing was never the same.

It was a perfect place for the film. That's what I have to say. Actually, the town treated me very well. And I'm not just saying that. I actually have fond memories of being dealt with very well. But it was cold. Cold!

It was all that (drugs and alcohol), yeah. It was anything I could get my hands on ... I liked it all.

Somebody said the other day, at the end of the movie, you feel like Capote committed a crime, and that's exactly right. That's why the film works so well. You really have this sense that he's the one who committed the crime, and I think deep down inside, that's how he felt, too. That's something he could never come to terms with.

but then the way he stands, the way he walks, all these things are going to affect all that stuff.

Actors can't act alone. The only way to act well is when you know the other actor has your back. And these actors had my back and I hope they know that I had theirs.

That technical stuff is really practice. It's not some magical thing. It's hard work, like an athlete, in a way. You just have to practice how to embody this character. If I'm playing a character who isn't like I am, it can take months and months.

That's why the film works so well. You really have this sense that he's the one who committed the crime, and I think deep down inside, that's how he felt, too. That's something he could never come to terms with.

As a producer, as someone standing outside the film, we knew that the story wasn't going to shine (Capote) in the best of lights. What happens to him, and it's not pleasant, begins his downfall. This guy dies at 59, without writing another (long-form) book. So that's the story. We're just telling the tale of the events that got that ball rolling.

People thought they had me pegged because of the way I am, because of the way I talk, ... And they're always wrong.

You're not dealing with the difficult debates and questions of our society. There's something about it that's really refreshing, especially after 'Capote.'

I knew everything he did (physically) influenced how he behaved. They couldn't be separated from each other. That was the struggle (for me), trying to get them together.

I'm very excited people are talking like that. I usually hide my feelings about things like the Oscars. But I believe in the film. Hell or high water, here we are, and people are actually going to see it, a lot more than we thought would, and they're responding the same way we felt about it. So I'm excited and I hope the film is still in theaters six months from now, and the Oscar buzz is only gonna help. I don't want it to go away. I want it to be in the theaters in May.

If you have that kind of intimacy alongside ambition, ultimately it's going to leave an incredibly tragic impression on his psyche and spirit. He paid a huge price to write one of the great books of the 20th century. Capote didn't go to Kansas. Kansas reached out to New York and grabbed Capote. The minute he met Perry Smith, it was inevitable that these two men were going to die, one literally and one figuratively, because the identification they shared was too deep. The minute he got Perry to open up about his own life, and he learned they were both orphans, they were both abandoned children, he sees his muse, and that's the beginning of the end. Kansas sprung a trap on him.

It was a daunting thing, when they came to my house and offered me the role. I weighed 240 pounds. At the time, my girlfriend was pregnant and we basically were beached whales together. And it was a long trip over time to get to a size that I could fit into these suits that he wore.

The last thing I wanted to do was mimic him. I wanted to get his essence. It was the hardest thing I ever did on film.

That's always what I heard about people dealing with Capote,

They came to my house and said here's the script, would you like to play Truman Capote?

I like to fly below the radar, ... And here is this guy who is completely open, completely bold, who has this very strange sort of machismo.... So I had to find a different entry, a different level to find him.

I have the utmost faith in his abilities. I'm a huge fan. His show is never not insightful and funny.

If you see her, congratulate her. She brought up four kids alone, and she deserves your congratulations.

His ambition and his agenda. There was a kind of a ruthlessness, a driven-desire thing that was just exhausting for me to play. You could never kind of relax into a scene and just not care about what you wanted. He was always on point. He was driven.

He would probably be up here right next to me. I would say he would probably be critical because that was his life. And he'd probably point out all the things that were wrong, but he would also be happy that attention was being showered on him again. I think that was one of his character flaws.

Hopefully the film answers that, ... It opens that can of worms, where people walk out and say, 'Wow, I can see why it would be hard for him to function again after that.'

These things happen from the top down, and from the top there was a sense of humor and a confidence and competence that you don't question.

The movie is about knowing that somebody has lost his soul out there, somebody has destroyed a part of himself. ... The minute he saw Perry Smith, the outcome was inevitable that two men would die -- one literally and the other figuratively.

As an actor, it's nerve racking. But when I'm wearing my producer hat, I think, 'Hey, this is great. If the film gets nominated, it will be seen by way more people.'

The guy was exhausting, ... Because every scene was different. He played every angle. He sat there, listening, but all the time thinking of what each person needed to make them open up. So there was never just one way to play each scene.

It's ludicrous and I've been given enough. And I want to share this so badly with all the nominees. I can't tell you how fantastic these gentlemen are.

It's ludicrous, and I've been given enough. It's all nerve-wracking.

That's a beautiful play, ... She's pretty smart to pick that one to do -- actually impressive.

That's about all I can tell, or they'll put me in jail.

You can't just work on the voice or work on how he walks or how he feels,

You don't want a lead acting role if you're not the one that's supposed to be playing it. I'm perfectly satisfied with the career I've had.

There isn't, like, one formula, ... Everybody has their own way to go about it. Everybody is ultimately looking for that something that will spark their imagination, what will propel them forward with some passion to make the part work.

I began to see that this wasn't simply an odd man, an odd writer. What he discovered writing 'In Cold Blood' embodies what a lot of people go through. He struggled with who he was.

I can take it! When they came to my house to offer me the role I weighed 240 pounds or something. At the time, my girlfriend was pregnant and we were basically getting huge together.

I don't think Capote knew exactly what he was setting himself up for. He said later if he'd known what was going to happen, he would have driven right through the town like a bat out of hell.

I do a play because I want to do this play. Someone once said to me, 'How can you take yourself off the market?' ... I had no idea what he was talking about. This is what we do.