Acting is so difficult for me that, unless the work is of a certain stature in my mind, unless I reach the expectations I have of myself, I'm unhappy. Then it's a miserable existence. I'm putting a piece of myself… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
I would never not work on the part without it playing. That's what being an actor is. You use everything that's influenced you to… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
I have a fine level of recognition in the business and among the acting community now, so I consider myself one of the lucky… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
Life's pretty funny when you're objectively on the outside looking at it. — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
I don't get nervous when I'm directing a play. It's not like acting. — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
I was a breed of people who aren't capable of doing anything, really. At college I began to get the idea that being macho wasn't the accepted norm in the liberal world, and especially the world I entered into, which was the artistic world. I had a lot of problems with that because I was struggling with the need to… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share
I would definitely say pleasure is not happiness. Because I think I kill pleasure. Like I take too much of it in, and therefore… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
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… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
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… — Philip Seymour Hoffman Copy Share Image
