TURNER LOOSE
Hdustin’ off his photo skills. Oscarwinner literally turned things around on photographers at the New York Film Festival premiere of “The Meyerowitz Stories” when he “borrowed” a shutterbug’s camera and started snapping photos, much to the delight of onlookers on both side of the velvet rope. Hoffman (photo inset) did the same thing at the Cannes Film Festival in May. He offered us a possible explanation for his behavior — growing up in a dysfunctional family. “There’s a caveat to that,” Hoffman said at the Lincoln Center event, when asked if his upbringing was reflective of what we see in his new film. “I’ve never met anyone who says they grew up in a functional family!” The new comedy is about an offbeat family that gathers in New York City for an event celebrating the artistic career of their patriarch, played by Hoffman. “By definition, families are dysfunctional because they haven’t chosen each other, except for the father and mother,” the 80-year-old star explained. “Outside of that, they’re grouped together by accident.”
According to Hoffman, a noted method actor, preparing this film, which centers around his character, was a breeze.
“It’s not difficult and I don’t think it was any different for the people who played my children or even my wife,” he said.
According to Hoffman, sometimes good things just come to those who wait. “Success or failure is sometimes irrelevant because it has to do with luck,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 50 years. I can’t tell you the number of people that I’ve known over those years, directors, writers, actors who somehow weren’t there at the right moment, lucky enough to get what I got and I think there’s truth in that. It has nothing to do with talent.”
That’s a pretty modest statement for Hoffman, who’s widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation.
“It’s nice to be talented, but sometimes if you’re not there at that moment, you have a totally different life, and that’s painful,” he said. He then turned to our reporter and almost nervously asked about his latest performance: “Did you like it?” Outspoken actress (inset) will headline the Culture Project’s International Human Rights Arts Festival at St. Mary’s Church on the Lower East Side. The Oct. 15 event features song, dance, comedy and storytelling, which included the “Body Heat” star delivering a monologue from one-woman play “Red Hot Patriot” about the legendary journalist Molly Ivins.