Philip Seymour Hoffman, who tragically died yesterday at the too-young age of 46, was one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, arguably the greatest of his generation. He had the ability to move seamlessly from comedy to drama, delivering solid, fully-developed performances. He’s left us with an incredibly diverse body of work to be appreciated, and many have spent the last 24 hours pouring over all the clips the internet has to offer. Here are several of his most memorable…
Scotty J. in Boogie Nights (1997): A drunk Scotty J. tries to take his friendship with Dirk to the next level. It of course backfires. We’ve all been there, right? Right?
Brandt in The Big Lebowski (1998): Every Brandt appearance in The Big Lebowski is gold, so let’s just go with the first.
Phil Pharma in Magnolia (1999): Magnolia is weird for a hundred other reasons besides the raining frogs scene, and Hoffman is great in the movie as a desperate personal nurse to the dying host of a children’s game show.
Lester Bangs in Almost Famous (2000): Everything you need to know about how band’s work.
Dean Trumbell in Punch-Drunk Love (2002): Hoffman and director Paul Thomas Anderson worked together on five films and while Punch-Drunk Love might take a backseat to The Master and Boogie Nights, it does have Hoffman telling Adam Sandler to go f*ck himself.
Sandy Lyle in Along Came Polly (2004): He was even amazing in Along Came Polly. If that’s not a testament to the man’s craft I don’t know what is.
Truman Capote in Capote (2005): I would like to have included the entire movie just because Hoffman is that good.
Gust Avrakotos in Charlie Wilson’s War (2007): Gust is told he won’t be going to Helsinki because he’s too “coarse.” This rant fully supports that claim.
Father Brendan Flynn in Doubt (2008): Both Hoffman and Meryl Streep received Oscar nominations for their roles in Doubt, and here Hoffman goes toe-to-toe with Streep who’s character of Sister Aloysius Beauvier has accused him of inappropriate relations with a student.
Lancaster Dodd in The Master (2012): There are more dramatic clips of Hoffman in The Master out there, but this outtakes clip of two actors at the top of their game is just so enjoyable.
Andy Hanson in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007): Hoffman and Ethan Hawke rob and kill a drug dealer in Sidney Lumet’s tragically underrated final film. Along with way, Hoffman’s Hanson murders a passed-out heroin addict.