IFQ Interview

2009-12-21T02:26:00.000-08:00

From The Graduate to Rain Man to Tootsie, Dustin Hoffman has never ceased to
surprise his audience, but the ultimate surprise is when you
meet with this kind, subtle and passionate man.

IFQ: Stranger Than Fiction is about a man who finds out his
life is written by a fiction writer. Do you
feel that somebody writes your life or do you think you're in charge of your
life?

Dustin Hoffman: Well, let me ask you a question.
How many Near Death experiences have you
had?

IFQ: Just a few. I guess that I'm lucky to be around.

DH: I had a few as well, probably more than
you. Literally, I could have been gone by now. The
first one was when I was burned very badly when I was
in my 20's. I was hospitalized and I thought
it was terminal. The doctor who was
treating me really thought that I was going to die. I was
24 and nothing had ever happened to me that badly
before. Somewhat, shortly after this event, as I
was walking down the street, I stopped and looked at the
sky and said, "I get it.” I could have been taken out anytime
and so this is how I came to believe in God. I really
believe there is something. Don't screw
around with the author because he or she may be
writing a certain conclusion that you may abbreviate
by your actions. It's interesting because since
that event in my youth, I have been looking at people
who are daring in life, who cross the street when
it's a green light. They may think they
are invulnerable, but they are not. We are never
that invulnerable.

IFQ: The movie is about a man who at first is
quite compulsive, obsessive and a maniac. I'm
wondering what is maniacal about you. Do you
count the minutes it takes to get a woman laid?

DH: I love this question! You're a maniac! Well,
hear me now- women may be right about guys when they
are young, who are pre-mature ejaculators and
no fun. I was one of them!

Anyways, as you get older there is nothing
better than to be a pre-mature ejaculator because once a
pre-mature ejaculator, always a pre-mature ejaculator.
At my age, it takes an hour and a half so I think
I'm an amazing and great love today! Ladies, remember
me!

IFQ: The movie is about how a man’s awakening.
Finally, he faces himself and decides to change
his life. Did you awaken and change your life?

DH: This has not happened yet. I feel
I have not awakened. This is an honest answer, but
at least I can say that late in life, just a few years
ago, I learned how to trust my gut and also be
truthful with myself and with others. It's less
painful. Saying the truth hurts, but it's less painful
than lying. It doesn't mean you have to be destructive
to someone. I do believe it's very difficult to be
truthful with yourself. I believe we lie to
ourselves all the time. I believe there is an
unconscious and I believe that the unconscious is
unconscious for a reason. We can't get to it. I think
it's human nature to ignore the truth about ourselves
because we don't want pain.

IFQ: Is it that society puts us in a box and
we learn to deny ourselves?

DH: Maybe. For sure, this is because you don't
want to suffer. We don't work through every trauma in
our lives. Since the day we are born, most
traumas remain un-resolved, whether they happen at 3
years of age, or 6 or later on. Then certain things
will tick them off, no matter how old we are, and then
suddenly we are again 3 years old, or 6 years old, and
so on. I believe, in my case, that the traumas I have
been able to work through have not been triggered
again.

IFQ: Do you think acting helps with the process of
working through your traumas or does it keep you away
from your true self?

DH: Acting didn't solve much! If it did, I would have ended up much less crazy than I am today,
but I'm not. At least for me, acting is a relief - a
relief to be able to admit certain things about myself
and disguise in my work, in my characters.

IFQ: You said that you came to know yourself and you faced
yourself late in your life. You said that just a few
years ago you were able to do that. What happened?

DH: I had a crisis. The crisis is that I
suddenly stopped working two years ago. I stopped for
four or five years. It was right after receiving the
Lifetime Award from the American Film Institute. I
walked in and in this huge room they had all the
pictures on the wall of all the characters I had ever
played. It destroyed me. It didn't make me feel
good. It was a panic attack. I went home that day,
took off my tuxedo, went to bed and had a real panic
attack. For the first time, I was able to understand
when people tell you they want to jump out of the window -
because they want a relief! A relief from all of this!
Instead of feeling good about myself, to have had a
chance to do all of this, I felt like it was all over!
Somewhat, I felt I had not been able to connect with
what I wanted to connect through my work. I think you
try to find something in your work that transcends
yourself, to stimulate your life. One day I woke up
and realized I had not worked in five years; it felt
like six months!

IFQ: One day you went back to work?

DH: One day, I just took the first job that was
offered to me. It was Confidence. Then I
decided to change my whole way of working.
Suddenly, I stopped worrying about the script. Don't
worry about nothing, just worry about people you want to
work with, like working with Johnny Depp, and even if
it's a small role. It's all about the people I meet and the people I feel good to work with.
Also, don't try to be a star, just be an actor. Enjoy
your work. Enjoy life.

IFQ: Are you really trying not to be a star?

DH: Yes. After years of waiting tables and
after years of rejections, I did The Graduate and this
was a freak accident that made me a known actor
overnight. Then I turned everything down.
Finally, I did Midnight Cowboy, even though
people told me not to take it. People told
me that I was a star and that you don't take a
supporting role. I don't want to be a star; I
want to be an actor. I know that success corrupts and stardom corrupts. How do
you stop it? You're less pure. I believe you should do
only what you believe in. You should not focus
on the role that makes you a star but the role that
makes you a good actor.

IFQ: You seem to really enjoy life, but has there
been moments where you have been bored with or in your
life?

DH: No. I have never been bored in my
entire life. I have been depressed, anxious, sad and
scared but not bored. Life is not boring, just
sometimes it's too painful. You never know what's coming next. So how can
you be bored? I really can't understand the notion of
being bored.

IFQ: Why do you think you're still acting?

DH: One day, I was working with Laurence
Olivier and I asked him the question, "Why do we do
this?" He replied many times, "Look at me! Look at
me! Look at me! Look at me!" I got goose bumps. But
that's true. It's all about being somewhat the center
of attention. This is why I love doing interviews and
meeting people. Look at Me!

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