The movie Dustin Hoffman called “the worst work I had ever done”
Just as classic American actors like Robert Redford and Paul Newman were settling into their status as the de facto Hollywood royalty, along came an actor in the late 1960s and 1970s who pushed the boat out in terms of method and approach, defined by his commitment to authenticity and raw emotion: Dustin Hoffman.
After leading The Graduate in 1967, which marked only his second time in a feature-length motion picture, Hoffman quickly ascended the film industry ranks and was recognised for his versatility and sheer expressive power as an actor. Less than ten years since his debut, he’d earned three Oscar nominations, finally clinching his first with the sensational Kramer vs Kramer in 1980. His second Oscar win would come nine years after that – but it was for a role that he once described as “the worst work” he’d ever done.
1988’s Rain Man, directed by Barry Levinson and co-starring Tom Cruise, was met with universal acclaim upon its release. Despite experiencing several hiccups in pre-production, with multiple screenwriters and directors, including Steven Spielberg, ultimately passing up on the project, it was widely regarded as one of the decade’s best films. Hoffman played Raymond Babbit, an autistic savant who inherits the multi-million estate of his father – much to the chagrin of his high-flying brother Charlie, played by Cruise.
Having been unaware of his autistic brother his whole life, Charlie effectively kidnaps Raymond from the institution he’s been living in and signs up to be his legal guardian to take control of the money. What follows is a heart-warming, meditative road journey where the formerly impatient and abrasive Charlie begins to feel love for his brother. Above all else, the movie was praised for Hoffman’s portrayal of autism – but it was something that the actor himself was uncertain about, with Hoffman even considering quitting the film at one point.
Despite months of research, having studied a documentary about the autistic mathematic genius Joseph Sullivan and researched the mannerisms of a man called Peter Guthrie, two weeks into the production, Hoffman turned to the director Levinson and told him he couldn’t do it. Recalling in an interview with the Associated Press, Hoffman said: “It was the worst work I had ever done…” He explained how he begged the director to “Get Richard Dreyfuss, get somebody, Barry – because this is the worst work of my life.”
Luckily, Levinson didn’t yield, and shortly after, during the filming of a classic scene where Ray speaks about his preference for underwear from the Kmart at 400 Oak Street in Cincinnati, something clicked into place for Hoffman. “I suddenly realised… he is nowhere if he’s not in the now,” Hoffman explained.
“I know something about obsession, and I’m comfortable being obsessive,” he said. With this newfound consolidation between himself and the character of Raymond, “the rest of it just took care of itself,” and Rain Man would be released in 1988, cementing itself as one of Hoffman’s finest works and garnering cult status and widespread critical acclaim.
