Oscar-winning Philip Seymour Hoffman, who struggled with drug abuse, died today of an apparent drug overdose at age 46. Hoffman, often referred to as the most talented actor of his generation, was an actor of unsurpassed scope, dedication, and intelligence.
The contributors to Rogerebert.com paid tribute to Hoffman. Former USA Today journalist Susan Wloszczyna recalled interviewing Hoffman for his first major profile.
He spoke of his Rochester childhood—he especially looked up to his mom, a judge and lawyer who had raised three kids alone. It was soon apparent he had more respect for the stage than the movies. He was deeply disappointed in me that I had chosen Chicago as my husband’s first Broadway show instead of the more challenging revival of Cabaret directed by Sam Mendes. Hoffman was far from loquacious that day—he saved whatever intense emotions he harbored for the characters he played.
Ali Arikan wrote:
Philip Seymour Hoffman was a brave performer in every sense. He gave his characters his all. To watch him at his peak in films like “The Master,” or “Magnolia,” or “Synecdoche, New York” was to experience a beautiful rawness. That honesty, as well as his amazing talent, allowed him to master a truly unbelievable range. He belongs in the pantheon of the greats.
When you hear about cutting-room fights, it almost always means the star thinks he or she is coming off as too unlikable and wants the director to ratchet up the vulnerability quotient. But Hoffman was arguing to make Capote lessattractive—to make him, in fact, thoroughly reprehensible. He said he told Miller, “The way toward empathy is actually to be as hard as possible on this character.”
I said I had no idea what he was talking about.
“I think deep down inside, people understand how flawed they are,” he said. “I think the more benign you make somebody, the less truthful it is.”
Interview: Vanessa Hudgens on Playing a Pregnant, Homeless Teenager in “Gimme Shelter”
Posted on January 22, 2014 at 8:00 am
Vanessa Hudgens gives a performance of extraordinary courage and sensitivity in “Gimme Shelter,” based on the true story of a teenage girl who is pregnant and homeless. Her name is Agnes, but she insists on being called Apple. Both Hudgens and writer-director Ron Krauss moved into a shelter run by Kathy DiFiore, played by the magnificent Ann Dowd in the film, to immerse themselves in the lives and experiences of these girls.
Hudgens, Krauss, and DiFiore were in Washington to present the film, and the next day Hudgens met with a small group of journalists to talk about the experience of preparing for and making the movie and why it was important to her. When she first read the script, she was immediately drawn to “what a strong character she was, the fact that she was a real survivor who took her future into her own hands. I just love strong women. I always love the idea of transformation, like Sharon Stone in ‘Monster.’ It’s amazing to watch an actor and not see the actor, just the character. I love that aspect of acting and I knew it was going to require that.” She talked about working with Rosario Dawson, who plays her angry, manipulative, drug-addicted mother. “Everything was really present and in the moment, discovering as we went. Of course the fighting scenes we blocked out so no one was hurt. But she just understood the role, we already had a good relationship as people, so we just did our thing.” She talked about getting to know the girls in the shelter. “The fact that I was there and wanted to tell their story, to make it a glimpse into their lives and not an over-dramatization. They saw my passion for the project. They knew I was really invested in it and this was not something I was going to take light-heartedly. I stayed in the shelter for a couple of weeks. I was doing the chores with them, I didn’t put myself on a different level. The one I got closest to was Darlisha, the one who had the real experience with her mother that we see Apple go through in the film. I was surprised by how uncensored Darlisha was, how open.”
She told us what she looks for in a role. “I’m very selective about the things that I do. I first listen to my intuition, my gut. I love being able to be a chameleon and trip people out by being a different person. I look for a character with depth, something real, something I have not done before, situations I have never personally been in, the further away from me, the more of a challenge, the cooler.” As she created the character, “In every moment, I tried to find something that was Apple, not Vanessa, playing with the lip rings, the way I spoke, touching myself, making every moment a bit more harsh and ugly, more raw, more real.” She appreciated “an instinct connection” with Krauss, “a magical dance connection. We just kind of got each other. I put him in his place and he put me in my place. He could do it with just a look. Because we had both lived in the world of the shelter, that became normal for us. There were times when I wanted to punch him! But his sheer dedication and motivation — I could never have done this without him.” The timing of the film and the character felt right for where she was. “I feel the movie came to me when I was at a point of transition myself, stepping into the world more, trying to figure myself out…I pushed myself harder than I ever had. It was a big touchstone for me. Afterward, I looked into the mirror and saw Apple. I didn’t see Vanessa anymore. I didn’t feel comfortable in my skin. It was kind of a disaster. That was the lowest part for me, just finding myself again. But then I got myself back on my feet and continued to work. Now that it is relevant in my life again, the journey is still continuing. I see signs everywhere I go. It is such a God-driven film. It has taken on a life so much bigger than the movie, connecting with women and bringing healing. It’s transcended into such a beautiful thing. It’s a gift.”
Tribute: Two 60’s Television Icons, The Professor and Reuben
Posted on January 18, 2014 at 2:49 pm
This week we say a sad farewell to two of the best-loved television stars of 1960’s sitcoms, Russell Johnson, who played The Professor on “Gilligan’s Island,” and Dave Madden, who was the long-suffering manager Reuben on “The Partridge Family.” The handsome Johnson played the only sensible, even-tempered member of the castaways. He was a US Army Air Force veteran of WWII who flew 44 combat missions as a bombardier and was a friend of the most decorated soldier of the war, Audie Murphy. When they both became actors, they appeared together in three films. He appeared in some low-budget westerns and sci-fi films including Ride Clear of Diablo, It Came from Outer Space, This Island Earth, Attack of the Crab Monsters, and The Space Children.
But he is best remembered as The Professor on “Gilligan’s Island,” where he was always trying to come up some scientific way to get the castaways rescued.
Dave Madden was a comedian and actor who did stand-up comedy on the Ed Sullivan show and starred in the television sitcom “Camp Runamuck.”
As Reuben, he was the harried manager of a pop group made up of a mother and her high-spirited children. He was often the object of the humor, especially in his interactions with the precocious Danny Bonaduce.
The legacy of both actors will continue to make new generations laugh as their shows continue in perpetual syndication.
Interview: E.G. Daily of “The Voice” and “Rugrats”
Posted on January 17, 2014 at 10:36 am
E.G. Daily is best known as the voice of ‘Tommy Pickles’ on Nickelodeon’s hit cartoon “Rugrats” and ‘Dottie’ from the iconic 80’s cult classic movie Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. E.G. stunned the judges with her moving rendition of Faith Hill’s “Breathe” on NBC’s “The Voice.” It was a lot of fun to talk to her about her singing and voice work. “Breathe” is available on iTunes and you can follow her on Twitter at @realegdaily and on Facebook.
I basically have been singing my whole life and have done voice work and just doing stuff that has to do with my voice my whole life. I did a lot of movies and televisions shows and stuff. A friend of mine actually just signed me up one day for The Voice and I was kind of like, “Really!!” I didn’t know they were going to put someone like me on there because I have done a lot of things and I’ve had a lot of different career opportunities and so I thought I’m probably too established in some respects because I do full voice.
But what The Voice is, is actually a place where you can just be a great singer and it does not matter what you have done. I think I was one of those people that actually took the risk at being someone who has done a lot and risked falling on my face by being on the show you know because it could have been like a humiliating experience but it was a risk worth taking and it ended up being an incredible experience. I ended up making a team and getting to sing on that show which was incredible. That’s how it kind of went down, I sort of went to this random audition and I think it was between 50,000 people and it whittled its way down to 150 and then it was down to 48 people and then the teens. I just felt really lucky to make a team.
That show is special because of the coaching you get. What was that like?
It’s really great. First of all you are working with people you admire because they are all so talented and they are actively doing a lot of incredible things for the music business and they all know their thing. They know what they are doing so you get to have one-on-one time. I got to have one-on-one time with Blake and one time I got to have time with Cher and Blake.
Really it was just kind of surreal and awesome and it felt really right actually. It just felt really good. It felt great. It was just a blessing. It was such a ball. They know what they are talking about. It is like I’ve been singing my whole life but still when you have someone that is that skilled and out there doing just that, they are doing that and they are giving you their notes. Blake really knows what he is talking about musically. Even though he is fun, goofy, sarcastic, and witty he still is very, very sharp on his game when it comes to music and critiquing the voice. He knows what he is talking about. So it was great getting to work with him.
They make it look easy when they perform and you see exactly how much work and how much thought goes into every part of it.
There’s a lot of thought. There are a lot of people involved in the process too. It is not just yourself. You have a team of amazing people behind you and they want to give everybody a fair shot to do their best, the best opportunity and everybody gets treated the same. You can be a 15-year-old little girl from Wyoming or you can be me, an actress from Hollywood who is 51 or 52 years old who has been doing it forever and I still got the same opportunity as anybody would and that is the game. They are going to give you the best opportunity to shine and are you going to make it.
What’s your favorite kind of song to sing?
I love getting to sing “Breathe” which was my song on the blind audition. It is just such a beautiful song and it is joyful. I love songs that are moving and they make you either feel joyful or want to cry. I’m a sucker for feeling things period. I just like to be feeling things. I like country music. I like the songs and I find them to be really moving. It is very intimate.
They tell a story.
Yeah, they tell little stories and that is the way I write. I love songs that are geared towards little stories or little things that happen and different kinds of feelings that come up that we all have but they are just put into like a little interesting story. I like stories. I like country music.
I’d like to know something about doing voice work and how you create such vivid characters with your voice.
When you go in to do a voice audition they basically will just show you a photo of a character and that character can be like a little boy or it could be a little rabbit, an old woman…..you get a picture and it doesn’t matter even sometimes it is an inanimate object like a box or an envelope. It could be anything. What is so incredible is you get to create the voice for this thing. Whatever it is, a flower or a box of cereal. That is what is so fun about it and as an actor that’s a really freeing thing because you are not limited by your face, body, age, or size. You are basically completely unlimited. I happen to have one of those voices where I can alter it and I’m a mimic. I mess around with when they say, “Can you give us a voice to fit that thing?” Usually it is the first voice out of my mouth that comes out. Because I have a really instinctive thing about what something sounds like I always have this game where I’m watching people’s faces and their mouths and I watch how their tongues hit their teeth and their lips hit their gums. I pay attention to how their jaws work and all of it makes a difference in how they sound. I have my own little internal game of like trying to imagine what the lady teller at the bank would sound like if she talked; if I could hear her voice or whoever. II like the game where you can give me 10 faces and 10 voices and I can match them all up and usually I’m pretty right.
It’s just one of those weird things where it just was my fascination with the voice and sounds and it turns out that my whole career is based around the voice like with voiceover and with singing. Acting requires you to use your voice and I happen to do a lot of character voices so it is all about the voice. It is about another part of my life which is I like to try to be the voice for a lot of animals you know and animal activist stuff and I try to listen to my inner voice which tells me a lot of important things and I’ve really conditioned myself to growing that voice inside me and listening to that voice when it is guiding me in the right way. So everything I do has to do with the voice and my career and my personal life. I think the voice is so powerful for everybody. It is a powerful thing your voice.
Do you have a favorite voice character that you have done?
II really loved Tommy Pickles because Tommy Pickles was so good to me. It changed my life. That was the beginning of my voiceover career taking off. I think Tommy Pickles was the first really life changing character voice that I did and the voice I did for Tommy Pickles was actually a little voice I started doing as a little girl so it was very developed by the time I got the audition for Tommy Pickles. I really loved doing Baby Mumble in “Happy Feet II” and I did Bam-Bam in “The Flintstones” and that was cute. I find it to be really fascinating the whole thing. The voice work for me is always a surprise. When people cast me I’m always like, what? The day they asked me to Dominican. I did an accent and after the audition for that I said I really don’t know what Dominican is actually and they started laughing because whatever I did was right, so.
Did you mimic your teachers when you were growing up?
I did actually yeah. Because they are all so different. People are so identified by their voice you know? You could just close your eyes and you know who people are. You know who they are as a person like if they are joyful, sweet, or if they are kind of angry people. You can hear it all in their voice.
What inspires you?
Just joy and feeling good in my body and feeling present. Every day that you can wake up and have a joyful day is such a gift, especially because certain people that have gone through different kinds of cycles in my life where one period of time where I went through life where I was having anxiety and some depression and panicky and so when you have had that kind of stuff in your life you are so grateful to be present and connected to some higher power and connected to the beauty of every day and every person that you might run into and every stranger that you might connect eyes with whether there is magic or light behind their eyes. Everything inspires me truthfully.
The Ultimate Gift, based on the book by JIm Stovall had James Garner as a wealthy man who left his grandson twelve “gifts” to teach him that the true meaning of life is not about money but about love, compassion, and giving. Now this inspiring film has led to a prequel, the story of how the character played by Garner learned those lessons himself. Between the pressure of running a foundation started by his late grandfather, being sued by his greedy extended family, and seeing his beloved Alexia leave on an extended mission trip to Haiti, Jason Stevens’ world is unraveling. But when Jason discovers the lifelong journal his grandfather began as a Depression-era lad, Red Stevens’ writings transport Jason to a front-row seat on an incredible rags-to-riches ride. With everything he loves hanging in the balance, Jason hopes he can discover the real meaning of “The Ultimate Life.” I spoke to Drew Waters, who stars in “The Ultimate Life,” now available on DVD/Blu-Ray.
Tell me a little bit about this new film.
The Ultimate Life is a prequel/sequel to “The Ultimate Gift.” It shows how Red Stevens earned his billion dollars and what he learned. The ultimate thing is that money can’t buy everything and it isn’t the end-all. It’s love and happiness that you have around you at the end of the day that is the most important thing. And Red loses that during the search and his struggle for the almighty dollar. And at the end of it, when he finally gets it, he realizes he belongs and that he kind of pushed aside everybody who cared about him in that pursuit. And so there’s a great family redemptiveness within it.
What were the challenges in making the sequel?
Well, it happens in two different periods/ages of Red’s life. So it starts out with Austin James playing the young Red. The funny thing about it, we are both from Texas and we never met each other. So we had to make sure that we both kept Red’s character true to what James Garner played in the first movie and trying to interact and intertwine little quirks and characteristics that make you feel like you are going back in time from “The Ultimate Gift.”
The journals are really are a character in the film.
Red was a big believer in writing down his thoughts. It shows you how he learned that through “The Ultimate Life.” Writing down your thoughts helps you think things through. When you say it out loud and you write something down, it helps you think through things and come up with a solution. And it also gives a timeline in your life, which, in the movie was a great help to the character Jason to overcome his own struggles within his life and try to figure his life out and how the businesses took so much of his time away. And Red’s journals give a very documented look to his life and the struggles that he went through throughout everyday towards chasing his goal and then realizing the goal that he was chasing was the wrong one. And that was something Jason really learned at the end of the movie and allows himself to start chasing the real goals in his life.
What would you say is the age group for this movie?
It is a great family-friendly story about redemption and there is nothing inappropriate. You are never too young to start learning good morals and boundaries and balance within your life. I kind of loved Red’s life growing up. I started working when I was 12 years old and my dad was a blue collar worker. He worked hard. Some would say he was a workaholic. And I grew up, joined the military and when I came back, I became the same. I started chasing money instead of happiness. Until I had a daughter. I woke up and said, “I am doing the wrong thing here. I am chasing something that is not important to me as this” and so I changed my life and I started chasing passion and because of it, I am a better father for it, I am a better person for it. I have more joy in my life because I am happy about what I do every day.
You are one of three actors who play this role. So how do you try to make that seamless for the audience?
When I met with Michael Landon, Junior, the director, we started talking about it a little bit and I told him that I am a big fan of James Garner. I went back and watched some of his old movies and I went back and really tried to catch some of his movements and the quirks that he has and the traits within his characters. But when Austin came in to play the younger Red, he and I never met before we started shooting this movie. I was already on set two weeks when Austin came in. But he’s a Texas boy, I am a Texas boy. He rodeos, I rodeo. The only thing different about Austin is that he’s left-handed and I am right-handed.
I met him two weeks into the shooting. He came in and I started talking to him about “Hey, I am taking Red this way…” And he’d say, “I swear I was thinking of taking him that way, too.” Our characteristics already matched to who we were. All we had to do was portray it in Red’s character and it works well. I think it works really well.
What do you want families to talk about when they see this movie?
I am a big fan of these kind of movies and for this reason alone… is that it doesn’t discriminate anybody… it doesn’t matter what race, belief… anything. Anybody can sit side by side and watch this movie and not feel threatened in any way. And everybody will take a different message from it, depending on where they are at in their lives and how they are feeling. What we’d like to see is people open up the doors of communication and start having a conversation. No matter where you are at in your life or what struggles you are going within your life, the movie itself has that redemptive message. People can take from that message and build in for their own lives and open up the doors of communication and have conversations and see where they go. And to me, that’s what storytelling is about. It’s not to try to tell somebody something but to open up the imagination and the process of thought and go out and ask questions and try to learn.
You talked about how this affected you as a father. What kinds of things do you do with your children to help them understand that important message?
Well, for me, it’s passion. I grew up with respect. I grew up with a handshake being the structure of business deals. If you say something, then you need to try and fulfill that to the best of your ability. Well, you need to explain why something doesn’t work and try to figure out the ways to fix it. Everybody is so fearful of people being sued and people coming back at them and no one is really looking to move forward so much anymore. They live in fear. I think that’s a sad way to live. You can’t control it. You can’t control what life throws at you. All you can do is look at it and make a decision and a direction to go in. And that’s what I am teaching my kids. If I can give them a sense of self-worth and then a sense of security within their own life, and structure, I think they can accomplish anything.
What are you are working on next and how can people can stay touch with what you are up to?
I actually, have been working on a project that’s near and dear to my heart called “Nouvelle Vie” and in English it means “New Life” and I created it because I lost a grandfather to a broken heart and he was my best friend at the time and I could not understand how a person could give up on life when so many people around them cared about them. He didn’t see it that way. He just decided that he didn’t want to go any further. I wanted to do something. Everybody wants to leave something that they are remembered for and I knew my kids were getting older and I wanted to show them that there is always something to live for. And just remember the positive moments of life and one negative side of it.
I am not a preacher. I don’t want to make movies that come out straight and preach to somebody because I am somebody that is still learning and thinking my journey on a daily basis. And I want a movie that I can think about and learn from and visually be drawn into and then at the end of it, go off and either have some kind of closure to my own personal problems or open up the door to the opportunity of healing. And this movie does that. So we are in pre-production now. We start shooting at the end of April. We have got a great cast. I showed the script to Jim Stovall, the writer of the novels of TheUltimate Journey, Ultimate Life and Ultimate Gift. He read it aloud on an airplane and he said, “I got so many business cards from people who want to know how it ends.” He goes, “Whatever you need, you got it. I’ll write the novel if you want me to write the novel. I’d be honored to. I can relate to the character. I feel good about it”. So he’s doing the novelization of the book and we have the blessings from Ted Baehr from Movie Guide and now the process has come full circle. So we are shooting it in April and our company has three other projects that we have under development right now that we are excited about in all different levels. We have Karen Young’s best-selling novel Blood Bayou, which is a thriller. The message that is “Can you forgive somebody” Instead of judging somebody from a visual, can you dig deeper and really find out what you are?” And we are excited about it. Who knows where the future leads but right now we have a good grasp on where we want to be and the direction were we want to lead our children and their children.
Oscar-winning Philip Seymour Hoffman, who struggled with drug abuse, died today of an apparent drug overdose at age 46. Hoffman, often referred to as the most talented actor of his generation, was an actor of unsurpassed scope, dedication, and intelligence.
. E.G. stunned the judges with her moving rendition of Faith Hill’s “Breathe” on NBC’s “The Voice.” It was a lot of fun to talk to her about her singing and voice work. “Breathe” is available on iTunes and you can follow her on Twitter at @realegdaily and on 
, based on 
had James Garner as a wealthy man who left his grandson twelve “gifts” to teach him that the true meaning of life is not about money but about love, compassion, and giving. Now this inspiring film has led to a prequel, the story of how the character played by Garner learned those lessons himself. Between the pressure of running a foundation started by his late grandfather, being sued by his greedy extended family, and seeing his beloved Alexia leave on an extended mission trip to Haiti, Jason Stevens’ world is unraveling. But when Jason discovers the lifelong journal his grandfather began as a Depression-era lad, Red Stevens’ writings transport Jason to a front-row seat on an incredible rags-to-riches ride. With everything he loves hanging in the balance, Jason hopes he can discover the real meaning of “The Ultimate Life.” I spoke to 
is a prequel/sequel to “The Ultimate Gift.” It shows how Red Stevens earned his billion dollars and what he learned. The ultimate thing is that money can’t buy everything and it isn’t the end-all. It’s love and happiness that you have around you at the end of the day that is the most important thing. And Red loses that during the search and his struggle for the almighty dollar. And at the end of it, when he finally gets it, he realizes he belongs and that he kind of pushed aside everybody who cared about him in that pursuit. And so there’s a great family redemptiveness within it.