Philip Seymour Hoffman on 'Synecdoche,' Oscar fame and more

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Philip Seymour Hoffman is ravenous. He had flown into Toronto the day before from London, where he's directing a play. The tricky task at hand is to chat up "Synecdoche, New York," Charlie Kaufman's new movie, which is as difficult to understand as it is to pronounce.Before Hoffman can talk about his starring role in the film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, he must have breakfast. He devours scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, and home fries drenched in ketchup. At the pace he's eating, it is remarkable that no food gets caught in his shaggy beard.Hoffman -- "Phil" to his friends -- is an artistic director of a New York stage company, and his substantial theater background mirrors that of his "Synecdoche" character, Caden Cotard. Caden starts out middle-aged and ends up very old, his career spent directing the same group of stage actors in a New York warehouse. He instructs them to live their lives within that construction much as they would outside it. Meanwhile, Caden is deteriorating, plagued by a condition that systematically shuts down his autonomic nervous system.Kaufman is known for writing "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation." This is his first time as a director."It came naturally to him, I think because he has worked closely with directors," Hoffman says.Hoffman, 41, doesn't know whether his vast experience working in the theater led Kaufman to think of him for this role. But Hoffman identified with Caden in a more personal way than just his profession."Caden is a guy who is living his life, so I relate to him on the fact that I am living a life," he says. As for Caden being pretentious, "I think people are pretentious. Do you know what I mean? People are sometimes annoying with what they do or who they are. It doesn't matter whether they are theater directors. Everyone has that quality at one time or another, and it expresses itself in different ways. So it is just another part of who Caden is that he's a theater director."Hoffman takes exception to the suggestion that "Synecdoche" is especially weird. (Pronounced "sih-NECK-da-kee," the word is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or a whole stands for a part.)"I don't know how to answer the 'weird' thing," he says, washing down his meal with coffee. "I don't know what to say except that I think life is really strange, don't you? You know, this conversation -- do you know what I mean? I sit down for breakfast and there are mikes in front of me. Like if you were inside my head watching my life through my eyes and how I thought, it would be pretty weird."Time moves fast and you get sick and you don't know why and you have jobs you don't know what to do with and your life gets big and out of control. I mean, it is not weird to me. It makes sense to me. And it is honest, and that is why I wanted to do it, and so I did."It would be hard to argue with Hoffman's judgment on what roles are right for him. He's favored smaller films with an independent sensibility. Hoffman spotted Paul Thomas Anderson's talent before most people and signed up for the Oscar-nominated "There Will Be Blood" director's first feature film, "Hard Eight," and then went on to be in Anderson's "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." Hoffman was unforgettable as a rich snob in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and a Greek CIA agent in "Charlie Wilson's War," for which he received an Oscar nomination.And then there is "Capote," in which Hoffman turned himself into the fey writer Truman Capote. The role won him an Academy Award and just about every other acting prize handed out in 2006.His Oscar has had some effect on his career and a larger effect on his life."If you put your finger on it, winning something like that just changes your anonymity," he says. "So that does affect the business and the fact that people who put money into your projects, it interests them how well-known you are because it is better for their films. I think it is easier for people to see me in certain movies, and more people know who I am because of the Oscar, and that is a beneficial thing."Hoffman still favors smaller-budget movies such as "Synecdoche." But they result in smaller paychecks, which means he has had to compromise."Sometimes I won't be able to afford to do something because I don't have any money and I need money coming in," he says.Because he's usually followed his heart on acting choices, Hoffman has not accumulated the fortune that people might think an Oscar winner has socked away. He has hefty mortgage payments on his Manhattan condo and a family to feed.Hoffman lives with costume designer Mimi O'Donnell. They met in 1999 when he directed the play "In Arabia We'd All Be Kings," for which she did the costumes. They have a 5-year-old son, Cooper, and a 1-year-old daughter, Tallulah.The rest of this year is committed to the stage. Hoffman directed a new play, "Riflemind," in London and did a workshop of "Othello" in New York.His next professional goal is to direct a movie."I have been hanging out with directors my entire life. That is what I do. They're my friends. I am a director of theater. I have done that for 11 or 12 years. But, you know, directing film is a different thing."He hopes not to have to act in the first movie he directs."That would be hard," he acknowledges, although he's aware that may be the only way to get a film financed.Hoffman will be seen on the screen again before the year is out. He and Meryl Streep co-star in a screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Doubt." He's a forward-thinking priest in the 1960s who is suspected of child abuse by Streep's much-feared school principal. Brian F. O'Byrne and Cherry Jones were lauded in these roles on Broadway. But Hollywood went after the marquee names.Hoffman says he saw O'Byrne onstage and was very impressed."But you know other actors take over roles," he says. "That's what happens."(E-mail Ruthe Stein at rstein(at)sfchronicle.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)