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The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Philip Seymour Hoffman Quotes

I like so many different kinds of music just because all I did was listen to the radio as a kid.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

You know the circus performer who spins the plates in the air you know, and he’ll spin six or seven plates in the air? Acting sometimes is kind of that guy spinning all those plates in the air but in your head and in your body.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

People used to be funny about approaching me, but now they seem to think I’m as sane as anyone who’s done what I’ve done in movies can be.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I know I wasn’t as handsome as some other guys, but I was OK with that.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I had insecurities and fears like everybody does, and I got over it. But I was interested in the parts of me that struggled with those things.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

In film, you have to let go sometimes.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

If you’re a human being walking the earth, you’re weird, you’re strange, you’re psychologically challenged.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

One person’s religion is another person’s cult.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I think you should be serious about what you do because this is it. This is the only life you’ve got.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

People actually live with their id exposed. They’re not good at concealing what’s going on inside.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

It’s important to say that actors can’t act alone, it’s impossible. What we have to do is support each other.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I don’t get nervous when I’m directing a play. It’s not like acting.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

Creating anything is hard.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

Vanity is something that will only get in the way of doing your best work, and ultimately if you’re truly vain you care more about your work than how you look in your work. I actually consider myself a pretty vain guy when it comes to that.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

The film is made in the editing room. The shooting of the film is about shopping, almost. It’s like going to get all the ingredients together, and you’ve got to make sure before you leave the store that you got all the ingredients. And then you take those ingredients and you can make a good cake – or not.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

There’s nothing risky in talking about your personal life. People do it all the time.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I know some really great actors who are pretty judgmental people, pretty critical people. But they’re great actors. When they’re acting, that’s the craft.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

My love for the theater has always been a priority. That hasn’t changed. I got into acting that way. The film work that came up was really a surprise.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I have so much empathy for these young actors that are 19 and all of a sudden they’re beautiful and famous and rich. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’d be dead.’

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I think therapy is a helpful thing. I think everyone knows it. You do it for your life, you do it for yourself, because you want to explore some things, and get at the bottom of some things. It’s about your life, the quality of your life.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I didn’t go out looking for negative characters; I went out looking for people who have a struggle and a fight to tackle. That’s what interests me.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

When you’re playing someone who really lived, you carry a burden, a burden to be accurate. But it’s one that you have to let go of ultimately.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

The size of my head though is pretty abnormal.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

Why you do something is always kind of a mystery to me.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

There are a lot of things going on with my life right now that don’t just have to do with career. So I have a hard time making decisions about work. That’s really a luxury problem.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

The weight comes off, you know? If you stop with the bread and the pie, it really does. It really works.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

Sometimes I have a great day of filming and sometimes the theater strikes me better. It just depends.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

Yeah, writers do hate writing.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

I’ve seen a lot of friends who have a lot of great projects, whether it’s a script or a play or whatever, and it is a great project and they have great people involved, and they can’t make it.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

Directing is a really kind of amazing thing, because you’re helping others and, in the middle of that, you have to worry about yourself.

– Philip Seymour Hoffman

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