Maybe! Near the beginning of yesterday’s New York Times Magazine cover story on Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Times’ Lynn Hirschberg describes interviewing the actor while he’s directing a play in London:
Hoffman jumped out of his seat and ran to the stage. He proceeded to correct the sex scene. He bent the actress back over a couch and metamorphosed into a desperate character, the former manager of the band, driven by the hope of sudden riches and his lust for the guitar player’s wife. He played just enough of the scene and, then, he switched back to being Phil, the regular guy in the baggy shorts.
Can you imagine being some poor actor with Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as your director, and having him leap onstage, shove you out of the way, and shout, “Here, let me show you how it’s done!” Even worse, can you imagine being the poor actress who gets bent over a couch by Philip Seymour Hoffman and then has the whole thing written up in the New York Times?
A Higher Calling [NYT]
