Great article on Phillip Seymour Hoffman in NYT magazine this week. I sometimes forget how deep his roots are in theater...it's so lovely to see an actor of his stature with the commitment to new work that he has. There was this quote on Hoffman from Mike Nichols:
“I don’t know how he does it. Again and again, he can truly become someone I’ve not seen before but can still instantly recognize. Sometimes Phil loses some weight, and he may dye his hair but, really, it’s just the same Phil, and yet, he’s never the same person from part to part. Last year, he did three films ...and in each one he was a distinct and entirely different human. It’s that humanity that is so striking — when you watch Phil work, his entire constitution seems to change. He may look like Phil, but there’s something different in his eyes. And that means he’s reconstituted himself from within, willfully rearranging his molecules to become another human being.”
I liked the reminder that good actors can do this...I know that there are a lot of playwrights whose intention isn't, necessarily, to write "great parts for actors..." but a big reason I write is to TRY to write roles worthy of this kind of molecular gymnastics.
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