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Philip Seymour Hoffman must hate Rochester Media

N

NewsSleuth

One of the biggest stories over the past few years, has been the fact that Fairport native Philip Seymour Hoffman, has quickly become one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

Yet I can't recall him ever granting an interview with either a Rochester television or radio station, or even the Democrat and Chronicle. This leads me o believe that the guy must either hate the Rochester media, or that he is ashamed of his Rochester roots. Both thoughts are understandable!
 
> One of the biggest stories over the past few years, has been
> the fact that Fairport native Philip Seymour Hoffman, has
> quickly become one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
>
> Yet I can't recall him ever granting an interview with
> either a Rochester television or radio station, or even the
> Democrat and Chronicle. This leads me o believe that the
> guy must either hate the Rochester media, or that he is
> ashamed of his Rochester roots. Both thoughts are
> understandable!
>
On the contrary, all I’ve seen on TV and in the local print media lately are stories about Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Not that I am defending Hoffman, but there are plenty of actors who leave their small town roots behind when they land in Hollywood. But from what I’ve seen and read, Hoffman does keep in contact with his former classmates and friends here in Fairport and Monroe County.

Besides I am pretty sure that Mr. Hoffman has people who book his appearances for him and if one had the choice of being interviewed by say Larry King or Barbara Walters, versus Jack Garner or some local TV reporter, who do you think Hoffman’s PR people would be interested in?

If you want to go further, how many interviews has John Lithgow, who was born in Rochester, given to the local media? When is the last time anyone heard about Robert Forester from Irondequoit? The paper does cover Renee’ Fleming, formally from Churchville, when she comes to town for a concert because Fleming is internationally known.

And in defense of the D&C and local electronic media, they have featured stories about Phillip Seymour Hoffman way before he was nominated for an Oscar.

<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
> And in defense of the D&C and local electronic media, they
> have featured stories about Phillip Seymour Hoffman way
> before he was nominated for an Oscar.

Back in my assignment-editor days at R News, we tried to do something with him once when he was in town for a visit. This would have been after Boogie Nights, so he was a known name, but hardly the big star that Capote's made him into. He was, as I recall, not particularly nice to us at the time.

It should be noted that Jack Garner did have a big interview with him in Sunday's D&C, and I think the interview got some play on channel 13, too.

A lot of the other reporting on Hoffman has been stretching it, to say the least. I was half-watching last night after the Oscars, and channel 13 had what appeared to be an interview with someone who went to Fairport High two years after Hoffman graduated. Yawn.

As for John Lithgow, his Rochester ties are awfully tenuous. He was born here but left very quickly, and only returned on rare occasions to see family members out in Wayne County. Robert Forster got plenty of press here when he was nominated for an Oscar some years ago. I don't think he's been working much lately, which may explain why we don't hear much about him. He's still seen before every movie at the Little, in a clip promoting theater memberships. <P ID="signature">______________
Tower Site Calendar 2006 ON SALE! - <a target="_blank" href=http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html#calendar>www.fybush.com</a></P>
 
>
> Back in my assignment-editor days at R News, we tried to do
> something with him once when he was in town for a visit.
> This would have been after Boogie Nights, so he was a known
> name, but hardly the big star that Capote's made him into.
> He was, as I recall, not particularly nice to us at the
> time.
>
Perhaps he didn't like you guys :)

All kidding aside, I have never seen a Phillip Seymour Hoffman movie, nor do I plan to in the near future, so I don't want you to think I am defending him. However it is very possible that R-News got the "brush-off" treatment either because Hoffman came home and wanted to be alone with his family and not be bothered by the local media. Or he's just another Hollywood stuck-up A-hole.
Take your pick.

By the way, Happy Birthday (March 6th)<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
He may be an a-hole...I kind get that impression. But make no mistake about it, the guy is one amaaaaaaazing actor. He's really good, and he has a great range.
 
> Fairport native Philip Seymour Hoffman, has
> quickly become one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
>
> Yet I can't recall him ever granting an interview with
> either a Rochester television or radio station, or even the
> Democrat and Chronicle.

Dave McKinley interviewed him a while back for Ch. 8
 
> He may be an a-hole...I kind get that impression. But make
> no mistake about it, the guy is one amaaaaaaazing actor.
> He's really good, and he has a great range.

Wouldn't call him an a-hole. What he actually is, according to folks who do know him, is intensely private and media-shy, not just toward local media, but to the national media as well.

When CBS got him to do a sit-down with Steve Kroft for 60 Minutes down in Manhattan shortly before the Oscars, it was one of only a few he'd done in years, and Kroft made it a point during the segment to talk about the guy's reticence to do self-promotion. (The only other recent appearances in any media that I know of were informal chats with Jon Stewart and Conan O'Brien, entertainers he knows and likes). It's also probably the last one he'll do at least until he has to do PR later this year for Mission:Impossible 3...and he may not even have to do that, since Tom Cruise will probably be handling most of that film's promotion the way he did most of the PR for his last several films.

Hoffman does visit old friends and family in the area frequently. You could conceivably run into him someplace in Monroe County almost anytime. He just likes to stay under the radar, and let his work do most of the talking for him.

It may seem strange for an interviewer to say, but IMHO you've got to respect that.
 
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