I was browsing Facebook before the Super Bowl on Sunday when I saw Huffpo’s breaking news post about Philip Seymour Hoffman. Like most people, I entered a state of shock upon seeing this news. I remember when he opened up about his addiction a few years ago. He was such an amazing actor, dedicated to his craft like not many others. Everyone has their favorite movie of his.
He might not have always been the star of the movie, but he shined through in everything he did. My favorite parts of his were probably Brandt in The Big Lebowski and Lester Bangs in Almost Famous. Neither role was close to the top billing, but both made the movie better.
The world sucks sometimes, and losing Philip to his demons is shitty. We, as consumers of mass media, will still have his craft to look upon at any time. We still get to see the brightness he brought to the world.
Which is your favorite role of Mr. Hoffman? Which brought brightness to your life?
5 replies on “Lunchtime Poll: Favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman Role”
My favorite role is a threeway tie between The Count from Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked, Lester Bangs from Almost Famous and Dusty Davis from Twister. None of these are his highly acclaimed roles, but they were all important films in my life.
THIS IS THE EXACT LIST I WAS GOING TO GIVE.
I also loved him in Magnolia and The Master and everything else he was in.
I was always in love with his speaking voice and intelligence. He had such a beautiful cadence and way of pronouncing and phrasing words. It’s so hard to pick a favorite role, though I especially loved him in Synecdoche, New York; Almost Famous; Capote; and Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked (the latter because though it wasn’t a particularly good movie, he was obviously having so much fun). And YES on Doubt. I remember telling someone after I saw it, “Philip Seymour Hoffman needs another Oscar just for existing.”
I love Pirate Radio. It’s a movie that holds a lot of personal meaning for me because it’s my parents music and the music I grew up on and we watched for the first time as a family.
Ditto for Almost Famous, maybe even more so.
The first movie I recognized PSH as someone I should probably recognize was in Doubt. He was so good at not being the good or bad guy. I’d never seen any actor who could leave you hanging that way before. And anyone who can hold their own against Meryl Streep is amazing in my book. After that, I sought him out.