Flash points where player meets part

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN

“Capote”

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THERE was no day or even moment when Philip Seymour Hoffman felt he had finally, truly “gotten” Truman Capote.

“There were scenes that I felt went well, when I felt less fear and more confidence,” he says. “There were breakthrough days that were then followed by two days of struggle, but there was never any eureka moment. That isn’t how it works. It’s progress rather than any one moment.”

He approached playing Capote with the same basic goal he’d have of any performance -- to find out what was unique about him and embody that. But, Hoffman concedes, the writer’s fame and distinctive personality created an extra layer of work.

“The misconception is that you’re trying to mimic someone,” he says. “But no one would buy mimicry as a person unless you internalize the character. So you’re presenting a person but also having to humanize him, which is different than doing a role that no one knows.”

Coming back to do extra shooting after principal photography, Hoffman said he did notice that he felt more comfortable.

“Sometimes when you do something very difficult, it’s good to put it away for a while. You feel a little clearer sometimes.”

Illumination came at different times, in different ways, none of them particularly distinct.

“Where help comes from, you don’t know,” he says. “Sometimes it’s when you’re working, or when you’re alone, thinking about it, or when you’re talking to a friend over dinner. Bennett [director Bennett Miller] might be more objective, but for me, it’s hard to really know what the really helpful breakthrough moments are. It’s not,” he says with a laugh, “like you jot them down at the time.”

-- Mary McNamara