Rise to Fame
Before The Graduate, Hoffman was demonstrating toys at Macy's and working as a psychiatric attendant. Mike Nichols had already rejected him for a Broadway musical (Alan Alda got that part) but then cast him as Benjamin Braddock anyway, reasoning a 30-year-old had the right attitude toward his early twenties. Life magazine quipped that if his face were his fortune, he'd be committed to a life of poverty. He earned an Oscar nomination for the role. To land Midnight Cowboy, he showed up in Times Square disguised as a homeless man to convince director John Schlesinger he wasn't just Benjamin Braddock. It worked.
In the Spotlight
Seven women came forward in 2017 with sexual misconduct allegations, starting with a 17-year-old production assistant on a 1985 TV movie. Hoffman issued a personal apology while his attorney separately called the accusations defamatory falsehoods, which told everyone what they needed to know about his contrition. John Oliver confronted him publicly at a screening that year and Hoffman pushed back. No criminal charges were filed. He kept working: Master Shifu in Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) and a part in Coppola's Megalopolis kept him employed. The reputation damage didn't fully heal.
Side Notes
The 'Why don't you just try acting?' line from Laurence Olivier during Marathon Man is one of Hollywood's most repeated method acting stories. Hoffman clarified it wasn't devotion to craft - he was going through a divorce, had been partying for two nights, and Olivier was commenting on his lifestyle. On Kramer vs. Kramer, he reportedly provoked Meryl Streep before takes by bringing up the death of her partner John Cazale. She found it manipulative. He won the Oscar anyway.