Dustin Hoffman
'I've learned how to trust my gut'
by Robin Walker
Screen veteran Dustin Hoffman has a good deal of sympathy for his
troubled parfumier character Giuseppe Baldini in the gory and
controversial new film 'Perfume.'
 Based on Patrick Suskind's bestselling novel, the film sees the
Oscar-winner playing an 18th century French perfume-maker who fears his
contemporaries will find out he steals his odours.
"We definitely have something in common," Dustin says. "I've been a
thief all my life because art is a kind of theft. I wish I'd met Baldini
so I could tell him, don't feel guilty because we all steal."
Performing alongside the 69-year-old is young British newcomer Ben
Whishaw, who plays central character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - a
prodigy of Baldini's who turns into a serial killer trying to distill
the elusive aroma of a young woman.
Dustin likens the relationship between the scent-sensitive Grenouille
and Baldini to that of Mozart and Salieri in Amadeus: "My character
knows how to make perfume but he's lacking that certain something that
makes only very few people geniuses."
The film is the most expensive ever developed in Germany, and is helmed
by German film-maker Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run). Dustin admits he pursued
the director to get the role.
"I called Tom Tykwer up. Being a celebrity that's the best part of it -
you can actually have access to talented people. I never used to do that
and I do it now."
 At some point in his friendship with Tykwer, Dustin found out about
plans for a film version of the novel. He was intrigued, he says: "I had
read the book for the first time about 20 years ago and I wanted to get
involved."
Most noted for The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Tootsie
(1982) and Rain Man (1988), Dustin says he was impressed with Tykwer's
talents.
"He knows what he's doing and prepares very precisely. At the same time
he has a great respect for the opinions of his actors. Tom would always
be open if I came along with an idea," he says.
Now entering his fifth decade as an actor, Dustin seems as busy as ever
- even if he's reached an age where support rather than lead roles are
the norm.
"Once you're in your 50s and 60s we tend to support at that age," he
says. "Leads are written for people in their 20s and 30s. We tend to
support the lead, unless you're developing stuff yourself."
Ageing remarkably well - despite the grey hair - Dustin took a break
from the big screen after Sphere and Wag The Dog in 1998 because of a
lack of good scripts. He also puts it down to a prolonged panic attack
about his career.
"I didn't like the scripts that were being offered to me," he reveals.
"What there was for me to pick, whether it was lead or supporting, I
didn't like anything."
 Ironically, the hiatus came right after receiving a Lifetime Achievement
award from the American Film Institute. "Instead of making me feel good
about myself, it felt like it was all over. One day I woke up and
realised I'd not worked for five years. It felt like six months."
It was his wife of 30 years Lisa Gottsegen who said the magic words, he
explains. "She said, 'You're only happy when you are working with people
who are really creative and that should be your only criteria. That's
why you became an actor in the first place, to get that thing.'."
Now Dustin seeks out work with the people he's interested in. "Even if
it's a small role. It's now all about the people I feel good to work
with."
Most recently that meant starring alongside Emma Thompson and Will
Ferrell in the surreal comedy Stranger Than Fiction. Playing a sort of
literary therapist to Ferrell's tax auditor - who hears the voice of an
author in his head laying out his life - Dustin says the film is about a
man waking up to finally face himself.
"Maybe I haven't woken up yet," he concedes. "But at least I can say
that late in life I've learned how to trust my gut and also to be
truthful with myself and with others. Saying the truth hurts, but it's
less painful than lying.
 "I believe we lie to ourselves all the time, 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."
Acting hasn't solved issues but it has helped, Dustin says: "If it did I
would have ended up much less crazy than I am today. But at least for me
acting is a relief. To be able to admit certain things about myself and
be disguised in my work, in my characters."
So who is the real Dustin Hoffman? According to the father-of-six, he's
closer to the embarrassingly kooky father in Meet The Fockers than you
might think.
"If you were asking my children they would say I've been doing it all
their lives. But I try to do it in a way that's amusing. When I did Meet
The Fockers they all looked at me and said, 'Well Dad, you finally
played yourself.'"
nuts4facts
Real Name: |
Dustin Lee Hoffman |
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Birthdate: |
August 8, 1937 |
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Significent
Other: |
Wife Lisa Gottsegen (since 1980) |
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Career High: |
His breakthrough role as confused college graduate opposite
Anne Bancroft's Mrs Robinson in The Graduate (1967) |
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Career Low: |
Took a break from movies between 1998-2002 in a self-styled
career "panic attack" |
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Famous For : |
His versatility: from drag queen to autistic savant and
crusading journalist to existential detective. |
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Words of Wisdom: |
"One thing about being successful is that I stopped
being afraid of dying. Once you're a star you're dead already. You're
embalmed." |
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