Dustin Hoffman Breaks Down at BAFTA Event
Dustin Hoffman was reduced to tears after reflecting on his prolific career during the British Academy of Film and Television Arts last week.
The 75-year-old actor was the subject of a Life in Pictures retrospective at the special event in London on Tuesday, according to MSN Entertainment.
After the audience reflected and honored Hoffman, the actor took the stage. Hoffman looked back on his Academy Award-winning role in "Kramer vs. Kramer."
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"I was getting divorced, I'd been partying with drugs and it depleted me in every way," revealed the actor as he became emotional. The role alongside Meryl Streep arose as the actor split from wife Anne Byrne in 2001.
"It was the first time I ever made a movie where I was living through what I was acting- unlike a writer or painter, who gets up in the morning and can exorcise what they're going through," he explained. "It's quite unusual to be getting a divorce, my first and only divorce, at the time I'm shooting a movie about a man getting a divorce."
Hoffman added that he almost turned down the role in "Kramer vs. Kramer" after reading the initial script for the film. He joined producer Stanley Jaffe and director-writer Bob Benton only after the script had been rewritten.
"We finished and I got offered a writing credit and stupidly turned it down, but it was a liberating experience for me to push all the stuff I was going through out there," said Hoffman during Tuesday's event.
Then, speaking about his ons-creen son, actor Justin Henry, Hoffman became teary-eyed again, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"I later discovered he was coming from a home that was breaking up," said the actor. "There was a moment during a break in the testing when I thought, this is the right kid, he's my son."
Hoffman also discussed his Oscar-wining film "Rain Man," explaining the challenges of portraying Raymond Babbitt, the autistic brother of Tom Cruise's character. During the filming, director Barry Levinson took Hoffman aside to praise him for bringing his character to life.
"It was that marvelous feeling when you find yourself in a territory when you think you're not getting it," said Hoffman. "It's feeling like you're in between worlds."
