Law & Order (1991)
Hoffman appeared in Law & Order in 1991 in what was among his first big credits after graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1989.
Hoffman appeared in Law & Order in 1991 in what was among his first big credits after graduating from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1989.
In 1997 film Boogie Nights, Hoffman played gay boom mic operator Scotty J. The film was Hoffman's second time working with director Paul Thomas Anderson, who became one of his longtime collaborators.
In the 1998 comedy, directed and written by the Coen brothers, Hoffman co-starred with John Goodman, Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.
Comedy-drama Happiness, about the lives of three sisters and their families, won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
Paul Thomas Anderson's ensemble drama Magnolia starred Hoffman as Phil Parma, a nurse. The film also starred Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, William H. Macy and Julianne Moore.
Hoffman played drag queen Rusty in the 1999 film Flawless, which also starred Robert De Niro.
Hoffman played Lester Bangs in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous. His character gives Patrick Fugit’s William Miller some valuable advice: "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we're uncool."
Hoffman and John C. Reilly played the leads in the Matthew Warchus-directed Broadway play True West, written by Sam Shepard. The actors, who switched parts every so often during the scenes, requested a joint Tony Award nomination for best actor in a play. Instead, Reilly and Hoffman were nominated separately.
Hoffman won a best actor Oscar for his work in Capote, which followed the events during the writing of Truman Capote's book In Cold Blood.
Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon posed backstage at the Academy Awards with their Oscars after the 2005 ceremony. Hoffman won best actor for the titular role in Bennett Miller's biographical film about author Truman Capote. Witherspoon took home the best actress statue for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
Directed by Mike Nichols and written by Aaron Sorkin, Charlie Wilson's War was based on a true account of Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson's (Tom Hanks) actions during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Hoffman, who played CIA operative Gust Avrakotos, was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar.
Co-starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, Doubt earned Hoffman his second Academy Award nomination and his fourth Golden Globe nod for his portrayal of Father Brendan Flynn, a priest who is suspected of having an illicit relationship with an altar boy. The film is set in 1964 at a Catholic Church in the Bronx, New York.
In Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, Hoffman played a New York City theater director. The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
Hoffman took his talent from the screen to the stage for the 2012 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols. Hoffman previously worked with Nichols on the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War.
Nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting work in the film, Hoffman played the leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause" who accepts a World War II veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) into his inner circle. The Master was written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson and also starred Amy Adams.
Hoffman played Plutarch Heavensbee in the second Hunger Games film, Catching Fire, alongside co-stars Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson (pictured). The third installment, Mockingjay — Part 1, is in postproduction. Hoffman had just seven more days of filming for the franchise finale, Mockingjay — Part 2.
Mad Men star John Slattery debuted his film, God's Pocket, at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Hoffman played Mickey Scarpato, a character dealing with his son's death and an unstable marriage. He co-starred with Christina Hendricks.
VIDEO: Philip Seymour Hoffman Talks to THR, Jokes Around in One of His Final Interviews
One of Hoffman's latest films, A Most Wanted Man, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Hoffman played an old-school spy who, in the wake of 9/11, runs a small, low-profile intelligence unit dedicated to tracking Hamburg, Germany’s large Muslim community, in which the terrorist attack was plotted.