Philip Seymour Hoffman Quotes

You have to have a personal connection. You have to really want to do it, because if you don't, investing yourself personally, your thoughts, your emotions, yourself into a part, is something you're not going to want to do as much.

I have an awful memory, and I have a great memory. Meaning that, if I'm trying to remember something, I can't remember it. But my recall is fantastic.

To act well isn't an easy thing.

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

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

With "Good Night, and Good Luck," I think it's kind of obvious what [Truman Capote]'s getting at there, and the importance of how it's playing out today, that is journalism doing, are the journalists doing their job, are they being the other checks and balances in our country that the way that obviously Edward R. Murrow was back then.

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'm probably more personal when I'm acting than at any other time. More open, more direct. Because it allows me to be something that I can't always feel comfortable with when I'm living my own life, you know? Because it's make-believe.

The ambition, the drive, the wanting to be the center of attention, the wanting to succeed... They're all inside me somewhere.

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

For me, acting is torturous, and it's torturous because you know it's a beautiful thing. I was young once, and I said, that's beautiful and I want that. Wanting it is easy, but trying to be great - well, that's absolutely torturous.

To have that concentration to act well is like lugging things up staircases in your brain. I think that’s a thing people don’t understand. It is that exhausting. If you’re doing it well, if you’re concentrating the way you need to, if your will and your concentration and emotional and imagination and emotional life are all in tune, concentrated and working together in that role, that is just like lugging weights upstairs with your head... And I don’t think that should get any easier.

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.

I've grown to really love musicals, you know?

My soul is in good shape.

If all people are encouraged to actually see who they're coexisting with, or even if they're not coexisting with other people.It's like to look at the world you're in.

The film is made in the editing room.

When you see the carrot at the end of the stick, what do you do to get it? These kinds of things that come up, that come up in the story of Capote writing "In Cold Blood," and when you see the movie, you'll see what I'm talking about.

In order for something to be born, something has to die.That's not always, but there is something about that that I find to be true. That is, it's a natural thing.

Something that could bring you wealth and fame could also be your end, your undoing.

Don't let people treat you like a cigarette, they only use you when they're bored and step on you when they're done. Be like drugs, let them die for you.

I work constantly but I work at a lot of different things. You know, I run a theater company in New York, I direct plays, act in plays, in movies, so I try to keep it eclectic.

My girlfriend's a costume designer in the theater.

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

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

Acting's difficult for me because I think you have to be passionately involved in what you're doing.

We really enjoy that, having a relationship with writers, developing material and getting a director, actors, that we have kind of that family kind of as a group we're going to do it together mentality in a project. Then the tough part is - so what actually goes has very little to do with us sometimes.

Frankly, I get much more sensitive about what's written about me than how I look in a photo. I'm so used to people seeing my image in plays and films that what they think about how I look is none of my business. If they says, "Hey, he doesn't look good," I'm like, Whatever, because I know I look different from day to day. But if you're up there putting your heart into something and people reject your performance, that's very painful. The written word can kick your ass.

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

There’s a period of time in your life when I kind of look back, and I’m like, was I happy, or was I just not aware?

Actors are responsible to the people we play. I don't label or judge. I just play them as honestly and expressively and creatively as I can.

[Truman Capote] was not only just selling his writing, but he was selling himself as a person.

Ultimately, all characters have some negative and positive energies. That's just how I see it. 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.

Being with a kid always takes you to being a kid somehow, and they really are showing me a childhood I might not have had in some way.

You have all the influence you choose to have.

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

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

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.

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.

When you're playing someone who really lived, you carry a burden, a burden to be accurate.

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

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

I got sober when I was 22 years old.

In life, do you ever really know if you're missing an opportunity? No, you really don't.

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

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.

There is no pleasure that I haven't actually made myself sick on.

Learning how to die is therefore learning how to live.