Philip Seymour Hoffman Quotes

I got into plays in high school then I ended up going to college for it.

I think directors should be confident in their leadership capabilities. I think directors should be confident in what they want to do.

The drama nerd comes out in me when I’m in a theater.

Actors are responsible to the people we play.

People aren’t going to throw the kind of money at certain people that they used to.

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

Films are always a fiction, not documentary. Even a documentary is a kind of fiction.

Creating something is all about problem-solving.

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.

The foibles of my body are pretty much out there in the work I do.

In film, you have to let go sometimes.

When you become a parent, you look at your parents differently. You look at being a child differently. It’s an awakening, a revelation that you have.

Sometimes I’m uncomfortable with the level of fame I’ve got! It all depends on the day and what’s going on. I don’t desire any more fame. I don’t need it.

In a film there a lot of people scheduling, you know.

If I don’t feel like I’m doing the job well, and I don’t know how to get there, or I’m too scared, or whatever, I’m not a happy guy and I’m not pleasant. I’m not pleasant to be around.

When people don’t know who you are, they’re seeing your work for the first time. But if they’ve seen a lot, getting certain things across is a more difficult.

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

Plays never feel like the right thing to do at the time.

Creating anything is hard.

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

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.

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

Film’s hard when you don’t have any relationship with the director at all and you just show up. Then you really are just a gun for hire.

When you have a child, as anyone knows who has them, that’s basically all you want to talk about.

I think you ultimately have to love who you’re playing. You have to have that kind of feeling. You have to have passion for the person.

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

I have a fine level of recognition in the business and among the acting community now, so I consider myself one of the lucky ones. If I didn’t think that, there would be something wrong with me. I’m grateful and thankful for what I’ve got.

I’ve worked with a lot of characters that are unhinged. I’ve played characters that are unhinged. That’s, like, my job.

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.

You have to understand that crew members make movies so they’re seeing a lot of actors all the time in their career acting.

I think part of being an actor is staying private.

No one wants to be pretentious about what they do or take it seriously, because that is just weird.

I try not to plan that too much.

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

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.’

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.

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.

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

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

Ultimately what I’ll do next is up in the air for me.

I didn’t have any idea that I would be able to have a career in film.

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

If I was a little bit younger I would worry more. I’d want to do one thing at a time but now I try to do a bunch of different things at a time if I can.

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.