Since his breakthrough role in The Graduate, in 1967, Dustin Hoffman has established himself as one of Hollywood's most talented and versatile leading men. Midnight Cowboy followed in 1969 with other career highlights including Little Big Man (1970), Lenny (1974), All The President's Men (1976), Marathon Man (1976), Kramer Vs Kramer (1979), Tootsie (1982) and Rain Man (1988). A two-time Oscar winner and recipient of multiple BAFTAs, at the age of 67 he is busier than ever with a string of supporting roles in a variety of movies.
You have a real chemistry with your on-screen wife, Barbra Streisand. Was that easy to achieve?
We actually studied at the same acting school in New York, around 1960. We didn't know each other but I was dating her roommate, Elaine. Elaine kept talking about Barbra and I said I'd seen her act and thought she was pretty good. She told me Barbra could sing too, but I learned that Barbra wouldn't sing for anyone because she didn't think singing was a serious endeavour. She wanted to be an actor. So we never really knew each other. And through the next 35 years we would see each other on and off. The only time we bumped into each other is when I would see her in concert. I'd go back stage and say hi because we had this history together, having started in the same acting school. I think what existed between Barbra and I - and I know you hear this shit all the time - is an af
fection that was genuine.
It's a matter of keeping that romantic atmosphere as real as possible, isn't it?
I loved that every time we worked together there was an openness. I'd say to Barbra, "Man, your breasts look great today". And she loves her breasts... That's what I would whisper to her during the scene - I like to do real stuff because I wanted it to be real. It might simply be to do with a look. There are five senses, so sometimes it's in a look or in a smell. I love the neck, snuggling into it and smelling that. I said to Barbra that's what's real to me. She said I should do whatever I wanted.
And then there's Robert De Niro, with whom you've worked on two previous occasions. How do you set about playing a character who is the diametric opposite to his?
I work in such a way that I'm not trying to get to De Niro's character, I'm trying to get to Bob himself. I know Bob doesn't like his space being invaded but I said to Jay [Roach, the director] that the first thing I was going to do in the scene where we meet and shake hands, was feel his muscles because I know he works out. And then give him a nice kiss on the neck. But I didn't want him to know it was happening. That became the common premise for our scenes together.
What has been the reaction of your own family, seeing you play an indulgent father on screen?
They say that what I did on screen is more the way I am at home than in any other film that I've done. I'm not like that all the time but that's a large side of myself at home that I'd never done in a film before.
You seem to be having great fun with your career right now. Is that as a result of any conscious changes you have made?
I stopped working a few years ago because I just lost a spark that I'd had before. I thought I'd just try writing, and maybe start directing, but I did it very quietly. Three years went by, when my wife said something to me that kind of altered me. She said, "Why don't you throw all those rules out that you've always had? Don't worry about the script, don't worry about the part, don't worry about the budget. By this point you should know whether you're going to have a fulfilling experience with the director and the people you're going to work with. So why don't you just try doing that?" Which is basically what I did on I Heart Huckabees. I liked David O Russell's work so I said yes without really looking at the part. I did Finding Neverland because I loved what Marc Forster did with Monster's Ball and Johnny Depp is an actor I've admired for years. So I've been having the most fulfilling time I've had since I first started getting work off Broadway.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/01/20/dustin_hoffman_meet_the_fockers_interview.shtml
Simply Dustin Hoffman
