I have unlocked and discovered a secret
to living in these bodies that we hold
to put it simply Philip Seymour Hoffman
was absolutely fascinating he may be one
of the most brilliant and versatile
actors to ever grace the screen
Hoffman's amazing versatility led to him
being labeled as a character actor he
was well known for his usually eccentric
and always interesting supporting roles
expertly camouflaging himself with
various looks and accents flexible on
the subject of property we're different
because you are all ashamed of us and we
are not ashamed of you
but I feel that calling him a character
actor doesn't quite do him justice and
that's the first thing I had to look at
was how were they similar to me and how
were they different from me and I had to
cover those bases so I could understand
what makes them different what makes
them similar and therefore I could
create this person that's not living my
life it's living someone else's life and
so that's just how I've approached it
and I guess that maybe people call that
character acting but that's just how I
approach acting period Hoffman could do
it all from goofy comedies to starkly
serious dramas he never once seemed to
miss cast what what do you what did you
hear what did you see that convinced you
so thoroughly from his timid and pitiful
character in Boogie Nights to playing an
aggressive villain and Mission
Impossible three Hoffman's range was
endless some of the greatest directors
of all time realized this Hoffman
collaborated with Sidney Lumet the Coen
Brothers Spike Lee and perhaps most
notably five different times with his
close friend Paul Thomas Anderson
Hoffman possessed an endless list of
talents but for me what stands out the
most was his uncanny ability to display
emotion he was somehow able to portray
even the most over-the-top instances of
emotion with unrivaled naturalism many
filmmakers used Hoffman's gift to their
advantage
go through some of his scenes and you'll
notice that often the camera will linger
on him rather than cutting back and
forth to cover the other actors during
their lines
why because Hoffman's simply reacting
was some of the best acting will ever
see
take this clip from the movie doubt
notice how Hoffman receives majority of
the coverage even when he is not
speaking about this alone no
take your time father would you like
some more tea you should have learned it
alone this whole segment last 124
seconds
not including wide shots 77 of those
seconds are dedicated to Hofmann that
means the camera is focused on him about
62% of the time in a scene that features
two other incredible actors granted
Hoffman does more speaking than anyone
else in this clip but the fact that we
don't cut away from him is a testament
to his ability when it comes to
displaying emotion you can imagine the
director and editor not wanting to cut
away from this what I miss most about
Philip Seymour Hoffman is how he made me
feel he made me laugh he made me cry and
he made me appreciate movies more than
any other actor when it came to acting
Philip Seymour Hoffman was an absolute
master I am a writer a doctor a nuclear
physicist a theoretical philosopher but
above all I am amend hopelessly
inquisitive man just like you
[Music]