To say that Phillip Seymour Hoffman was the sole catalyst
for my love of the movies might be an exaggeration, but not a very big one.
Sure, I always watched and enjoyed movies growing up, but I viewed them the way
that most folks probably do- entertainment, a cure for boredom, something to do
on a first date, etc. It wasn’t until I saw Doubt
that I realized that films were art, perhaps even art in one of its purest
forms. For those of you that haven’ seen Doubt,
Phil plays the principal at a Catholic school in Brooklyn during the 1960’s accused
of having an inappropriate relationship with one of the students at the
school, and has to square-off with a
fellow teacher at the school (played by Meryl Streep) who is convinced of his guilt.
This wasn’t the first Hoffman film I had seen, but this film absolutely and unequivocally
changed the way that I watch movies. His performance was so real, authentic,
and engrossing. I wasn’t watching Phil playing a torn catholic priest, I was
watching that priest. It’s not his most well-known film (nor his Oscar-winning
film), but I’m still convinced that it exemplifies his gift and his brilliance
more than all the rest of his work.
Phillip never once did a movie for a paycheck. Nearly every
actor-no matter how famous or iconic- has put out at least one piece of drivel;
one film that reminds us that even movie stars have to bring home the bacon.
Even worse, every actor and actress seems to make at least one terrible
decision during their career, agreeing to do a film that seems to have
potential, but ends up being a crapshoot, both artistically and financially.
Not Phil. He meticulously selected his films, studied the script, and became
the character. Even on the rare occasion that he agreed to do a big-budget
blockbuster film (like Mission: Impossible
III) his characters were still authentic and pure. It’s often said that you
can be an actor or you can be a movie star, but not both. Phil perfectly
exemplified that sentiment. He wasn’t interested in fame or stature, nor did he
concern himself with tabloids or public opinion as the rest of Hollywood does.
He was an artist, plain and simple, and maybe even the defining actor of this
generation. For one generation it was Marlon Brando, for another generation it
was Jack Nicholson. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was that actor for me and for us.
I’ve always named PSH as my favorite actor without
hesitation or a second thought, and as I previously mentioned it would hardly
be a stretch to call him the driving force behind my cinematic passion. For
these reasons, I was hit especially hard by the news of his passing. I was a bit late in hearing about it (I just
moved into a new apartment that is still lacking internet connection), but I
woke up yesterday to text messages from 5 or 6 different friends and relatives
all alerting me of the news. Many of them even expressed their condolences to me,
as if I knew PHIL personally. In a weird way, I felt like I did. When Whitney
Houston and Michael Jackson passed, I remember observing others who seemed so devastated
by it and smugly wondering to myself how someone could be so affected by the
death of a person they never even met. For me, Whitney Houston and MJ were just
names; not to say they weren’t incredibly gifted or worthy of admiration, they
just didn’t happen to be artists with whom I ever really connected. But when I
heard the news about PSH, my very first thought was “what now?” In retrospect I’m
not really sure what was meant by that. I think he was such a beacon in cinema
for me that I can’t imagine the art form continuing without him. I know it
will, but I’m not sure how.
Rest in Peace Phil, and thank you.
