If I start to become a star, I'll lose contact with the normal guys I play best.

I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press.

Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors.

If you look at yourself as a star, you've already lost something in the portrayal of any human being

Scarecrow

[Asked what changed in the tide to allow them to be stars, Hoffman laughs and replies,] A decline in the culture. ... Everyone has a chance if you're lucky enough to find the property and we all three individually were very fortunate.