Philip Seymour Hoffman's Rare Talent

Film acting may be the most mysterious of the arts. A film script is shorter than a stage play, but it leaves more for the actor to sketch in, because devices like stage direction and soliloquy are largely unavailable. Every choice therefore bears added weight. At the same time, the large screen, which records every facial twitch for posterity, compels an economy of gesture. What the actor must do, at a minimum—and this is merely where the mystery begins—is “get through the screen.” Beauty and talent aside, some actors can hold our attention. Those who cannot pass this first decisive test don’t get cast.