Thank you Phillip Seymour Hoffman

I am writing this to celebrate an artist of unspeakable talent. Probably one of the actors I most refer too with my favorite descriptive term:

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was a POWERHOUSE!

He left behind a body of work that rivals any of the greatest talents to have ever graced a screen. He also accomplished a rare feat in the industry; going from Character Actor to leading man.  

In his smaller, earlier roles he steals the show, like in BOOGIE NIGHTS. As Scotty J, his obsession with Dirk Diggler and "I am out there" attitude brings a dimension to Mark Wahlberg's character’s naivety. All while also validating how much “the dumb” Dirk really sees but refuses to be entrenched with the negative energy around it. This character could have easily been played with a flamboyance that would have made him cliché but instead Hoffman makes the oh so subtle choice to portray his insecurity with childish imps like biting his nails or playing with the bottom of his shirt; adding depth to such a small role and enhancing a great script.

He does the same in THE BIG LEBOWSKI as The Other Lebowski's lackey Brandt; another choice he makes to play this character with a Butler's drollness in tone but with a casual scaredy-cat’s mannerisms. A crucial back and forth that the script calls for in making the pacifist Dude seem the in-control, authoritative, one in the dynamic but it’s Hoffman’s inflections and twitching that sell it.  

In MAGNOLIA his character shows an unapologetic, not so patronizing, loyalty to his prick boss while fighting an underlying longing that he hopes to be rewarded for trying so hard to find the best in the man. Again the choice Hoffman makes here is perfect. Playing the character with the ideal that he is so jaded everything he says is guarded in sarcasm; all the while showing a constant internal struggle of desperate hope and longing on his face with tiny twitches, nervous finger movements, and beading sweats. 

I know the writing is sharp here, as it is with the first two films I described but there are several ways you could have seen these characters played if you had never seen the movies but picked up the scripts and read them. After that, when you see how Hoffman did it on the screen, you become envious of the choice he’s made or simply gawk in awe. In basketball you'll hear a term that applies to great players a lot. The guy that separates himself from the rest is the guy who moves best without the ball. That's when you know he's special. Character acting is so much about being the guy you most remember but can never remember his name. Most of the time that comes from a strong script or good co-stars but the one that's special is the guy you see in the background listening and not necessarily giving to the lead (moving without having the ball).

In THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY we get to see him be the foil. His pompous, innate nature to not believe and fully give in to Tom Ripley lends to the tension building. It gets him on edge and again that's by the storytelling design but what Hoffman chooses to do in how he enunciates certain words and gives stares of suspicious cattiness, turns the guy who is looking out for his friends and his way of life, into the bad guy. A must needed ideal to hope of cheering or sympathizing with and for Tom Ripley.

In PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, he is the straight up villain; as he also is in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III. Again turning pure evil into a dimensional character of depth and making him interesting. The choices he makes of when to raise his voice or be quiet add layers to the hate you need to have for these characters and the writing allows him to flip the script on the good guy and really add doubt to a hero’s success. Both of these performances in particular are times when you get to see him bully physically on the screen, imposing his will, and threaten with body language and tough guy antics as opposed to words.

Whereas in my two favorite performances of his, ALMOST FAMOUS and CAPOTE it’s really all about the words and cadence. In ALMOST FAMOUS he again is the scene stealing character actor but in this case he’s the burning bush, the wise sage looking out for his star pupil. IN CAPOTE he is again the smartest man in the room and knows his image is as important as his tongue. Here in these two movies he shows he’s at his best when he holds in the wisdom. It’s the wisdom that allows his acting to give the character the strong sense of belonging these characters needed to have. The confidence in which he plays these guys and then subsequently the 2 people he chooses to confide his vulnerability too allows for him to give both sides to the screen fully. We see it and we also see the other characters around him frustrated by not being able to see it. He is acting within acting. 

Go look at Capote in the moment he is first stepping foot into the house and recounting the events that unfolded there. There is great reaction shot that sends chills to the screen and atmosphere.  Something Capote wrote about it but could never really capture because Capote was so slick to hide who he was he that his writing never allows to reveal himself to an audience. That’s uncanny that an actor would pick up that subtext and use it to enhance a moment that is not written because it’s the actor interrupting the inner conflict of that character.

Little things like that on a huge screen impact you because its raw emotion and validating everything you feel at that moment for that character.  Hoffman does this effortlessly because he uses no tricks. He allows himself to feel the moment and stay in it as the camera does what it does or dialogue moves you where you need to be moved.

In THE MASTER he does a dual arch, being the tough guy with body language and the smartest guy with words. His praying mantes like eyes, which Paul Thomas Anderson does so well to focus in on, tell you everything you will ever come to feel about this man. You see the terror he tries to let shine through all while trying to mask the frustration of his emotional, internal terror. When he flexes a vulnerable aspect very subtly but not by accident, it thus creates the fraud that this man is.

This leading role I imagine had to be tough for him because of the addiction element but he never shied away from that. See OWNING MAHOWNY, LOVE LIZA, or BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD for more poignant examples of that. All these performances were so good probably because they came so close to touching his own life.

Like all good artists there was a monumental truth to art imitating life; even movies like JACK GOES BOATING (which he also directed) and SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK he shows those obsessive elements that really dug out a  lot of true vulnerability. You have to be fearless to allow that to be seen on a screen.  He never shied away from those elements and in fact it’s probably what makes him so admirable as an actor.

He had those carefree moments as an actor too. Like those in MONEYBALL and CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR; where he plays the lovable asshole and with this arch it always looked like he was having the most fun doing them. Being the guy who seemingly was a naturally gifted, smarter than you, wordsmith; the type that when he spoke, it came out as funny to those who got the joke and cruel to those who didn't. Again choices he makes to let himself go physically which lends itself to the comedy element. He looks unkempt and so badly made up that it borders on ridiculous how he could be these feared and respected real life figureheads. Sure he observed them and pulled from them but he also adds the interpretation of not wanting to make these important men look like total buffoons, so he uses the words written as a kind of guide to when he all of sudden looks like he has his shit together; that golden moment when the square peg fits in the round hole because everything else didn’t make sense. Again a choice as the actor he made instinctively understood we need to remember this line or this moment in the movie.

There are also movies like DOUBT, IDES OF MARCH, 25^TH HOUR and STATE AND MAIN where he takes what’s given; especially in STATE AND MAIN where Mamet is notorious for having everything written out and played beforehand. So as a good actor would do with source material like this and rigid commitments ahead of time; he plays his role to perfection and chooses those insignificant times to allow a little leeway to shine through.

In STATE AND MAIN it’s moment he gets his finger caught in a fishing lure. He allows Rebecca Pidgeon’s character to help him remove it. He shows her deliberately his vulnerable side in hopes that she shows a little more than she has to him. They look up at each other and that magical moment connects them like it hadn’t before.

In 25^th HOUR, a similar character with fewer scruples, he steals his moment as Edward Norton’s character 

hands over his dog Doyle to him. Watch the exchange again if you have seen it already. It’s how he accepts the dog at first reluctantly and then when he pets it. He got the greatest a friend could give him at that moment, a guy who is generally a loser in his own mind becomes a little more confident in that exchange. He becomes calm and accepting; all down in his hand and his eyes.

I know, I know, it is crazy how much I have given thought to this, how I notice these things, and maybe it’s me reading way too much into it. Ok, I am but sorry it’s thrilling and interesting to me.

Most of you will go, yes he is a good actor, I liked him in this or that but come on? Or maybe, just maybe I give you something here from what I wrote. I know it's weird that I am going to miss a man I have never met or that I don't know anybody who has ever met him but I am. Simply because he respected his craft, he was an artisan master of his craft, and he had a passion that we share. Thank you for reading this and thank you Phillip Seymour Hoffman for enthralling my passion that much more.