Yesterday morning, we lost one of the greatest actors of our generation. Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away at the surprisingly young age of 46, leaving behind a lasting legacy of memorable roles. Hoffman was an outwardly approachable everyman whose incredible talent allowed him to show the hidden depths inside seemingly normal characters. He excelled at making the ordinary extraordinary. Not only will his larger-than-life presence linger in our memories, his onscreen presence will linger as well: Hoffman will be appearing as Plutarch Heavensbee in both "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" and "Part 2", which means he'll be seen in movie theaters as late as November of 2015. While most retrospectives of his storied career focus deservedly on his most famous roles in films like "Capote", "The Master" and "Doubt", here is a list of his best performances that you either never saw or probably forgot existed.
Chances are good you haven't watched this high-grossing special effects showcase since you were in grade school. Given that it came out nearly two decades ago and one year before his breakout role in "Boogie Nights", you might not even remember Hoffman was in "Twister". But as hyperactive radio operator Dusty, he managed to turn what could have been a bit role into many nineties babies' favorite part of their favorite weather-themed blockbuster.
Throughout his career, Hoffman collaborated with director Paul Thomas Anderson four times, including 2012's "The Master", 2002's "Punch-Drunk Love", and 1997's "Boogie Nights", where his role as a gay boom mike operator put him on the map of serious acting. "Magnolia" came out only two years later, and is largely remembered for performances by bigger stars (at the time) like Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy and John C. Reilly. But Hoffman's quiet portrayal of male nurse Phil, one of the only sympathetic characters in a cast of varied grotesqueries, serves as the film's emotional core.
Between creepy Matt Damon, gorgeous Jude Law, and before-everyone-hated-her Gwyneth Paltrow, you'd be forgiven for forgetting Hoffman's role in Anthony Minghella's thriller -- especially since it was his first time playing against his established sad-sack type. In "Ripley", Hoffman played a sleazily charming millionaire playboy who gets wise to Matt Damon's schemes. After years of watching him play loners, losers, weirdos and closet cases, it was a shock to see him play someone so...privileged. To many, it was the first glimpse of the full range of Hoffman's impressive talents, and a foreshadowing of the many great roles to come.
Anthony Minghella's Civil War epic was chock full of supporting roles by respected actors, some of them blink-and-you'll-miss-em cameos. Hoffman's performance as Veasey, traveling companion to Jude Law's Inman, was particularly memorable for the ways it combined the two extremes of the actor's capabilities. He's a man in a respected position who talked fancy...but when we first meet him he's trying to murder an innocent slave girl he's impregnated. Veasey is a despicable character who, because of the human honesty that Hoffman was so good at tapping into, you can't help but like.
Before joining "The Hunger Games" franchise, Hoffman's role as the villain in the third M:I film was one of his only forays into action territory; and it's a deliciously twisted performance. The actor expertly toed the line between realism and camp to portray this icy arms dealer; and, thanks to the franchise's penchant for rubber masks, he also got to play Tom Cruise playing Ethan Hunt playing Owen Davian. Watching one Philip Seymour Hoffman confront another with a very Cruise-ian grimace is one of the most absurdly fun highlights of the actor's career.
It's a mystery why this thriller was so criminally under-seen. It was the last film directed by Sidney Lumet ("12 Angry Men", "Network"), it starred a bevy of Oscar winners/nominees (Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Rosemary Harris, Ethan Hawke, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon), it told an engrossing story about cash-strapped brothers who decide to make easy money by robbing their own parents' jewelry store, and it contains one of Hoffman's most intense performances as the mastermind behind the botched robbery. In anyone else's hands, Andy would have been a hateful and unsympathetic character. In Hoffman's, he's an understandably desperate man who you continue to root for and sympathize with long after you should stop.
In this low key comedy/drama, Hoffman played one of a pair of estranged siblings (with Laura Linney as his sister Wendy) who must reunite to care for their ailing father. It's a pitch-perfect film that avoids the over-the-top histrionics of other dysfunctional family dramas (like the recent "August: Osage County") in favor of quietly devastating realism. Hoffman delivers a nuanced and vulnerable performance as a self-absorbed theater professor who is forced to reevaluate his life when confronted with the emotional abuses of his past. In many ways, Jon Savage defines the epitome of a great Hoffman role: both funny and tragic, fumbling and graceful, subtle and memorable.
What's your favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman performance? Tweet us @Stagebuddy to let us know!
