Basil Hoffman: Actor in Los Angeles, California.

I am an American character actor, best known for my work, often in classic films, with distinguished film directors, including Peter Bogdanovich, Mario Monicelli, Richard Benjamin, Carl Reiner , Peter Medak (five times) and Alan J. Pakula (twice); Academy Award winners Ethan and Joel Coen, Paolo Sorrentino, Michel Hazanavicius, Steven Spielberg, Delbert Mann, Blake Edwards, Stanley Donen, Sydney Pollack, Ron Howard and Robert Redford (twice); and many others. My films include, among many others, HAIL, CAESAR!;  RIO, I LOVE YOU;  ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN;   CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND;   THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN;  NIGHT SHIFT;   MY FAVORITE YEAR, and Academy Award winning Best Pictures ORDINARY PEOPLE and THE ARTIST. I have worked with fourteen Oscar winning actors: Sophia Loren in Lady Liberty, Gene Hackman and Liza Minnelli in Lucky Lady, Dustin Hoffman and Martin Balsam in All the President's Men, Jason Robards in All the President's Men and Comes a Horseman, Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Christopher Plummer in "The Moneychangers", Mary Steenburgen in Pontiac Moon, Jane Fonda in The Electric Horseman and Comes a Horseman, Christopher Walken in Communion and The Milagro Beanfield War, Renee Zellweger in Down With Love, J.K. Simmons in 3 Geezers! and Jean Dujardin in The Artist. I also appeared with Oscar winners Philip Seymour Hoffman in Culture; Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People; George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand in Hail, Caesar! and Shirley MacLaine in The Last Word, but shared no scenes with them. I worked with two Oscar winning actors in films for which they won the award, Jason Robards in All the President's Men and Jean Dujardin in The Artist. I am one of only two actors who has worked four times with actor/director Robert Redford, twice with Redford as an actor and twice with Redford as the director. Jane Fonda is the only other actor who has worked four times with Robert Redford, with Redford as an actor but never as the director.

I'm a long-time private acting teacher and coach, also a frequent guest lecturer and teacher at prestigious academic institutions, including (among many others) the American Film Institute, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the University of Southern California, Confederation College in Canada and the Academie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts in Beirut, Lebanon.

In 2008, I returned to Beirut as a U.S. State Department Cultural Envoy to Lebanon to teach acting and directing at the University of Balamand's Academie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Lebanese University, Notre Dame University and St. Joseph University's Institut D'Etude Sceniques Audiovisuelles et Cinematographiques.

I am a former member of the Board of Directors of Screen Actors Guild and the Fine Arts Advisory Council of Loyola Marymount University.  I am a member of both the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

I am also the author of the acting textbooks, "Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It" and "Acting and How to Be Good at It" (and The Second Edition) with a foreword by SydnePollack. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp8XRG0zLS4

Hello, my name is Tyler. I'm an aspiring screenwriter from Oklahoma. I've completed several full length screenplays so far and am always looking to improve my writing!

The Wrap just published an article on my attendance at the American Film Market. Here is the link: http://www.thewrap.com/how-basil-hoffman-inspired-us-at-afm/

MOVIES The Wrap Facebook Twitter Instagram How Basil Hoffman Inspired Us at AFM (Guest Blog) The “All The President’s Men” and “Seinfeld” actor reveals how he came to Hollywood with a dream and no representation, and ended up working with Robert Redford Richard Stellar | November 21, 2016 @ 4:19 PM The lobby bar at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, California, during the week of the American Film Market is not for the faint of heart. Imagine the Mos Eisley bar scene from “Star Wars.” Replace the aliens and black marketeers with producers and distributors. Cantina creatures and the willowy gauze of Jedi robes? Think more Rite Aid sunglasses and Nordstrom Rack knock-offs. Those hushed conversations were not about planetary uprisings. They were about projected residuals. And, amidst this sea of cacophony sat not Yoda … no. Serenely holding court was actor Basil Hoffman. Impeccably dressed and coifed, Basil’s presence was an energy, and I was drawn to it. Your first chance encounter with Basil might elicit a quizzical look and a feeling of deja-vu. Where have I seen him before? Then, realization washed over me: Yes! “Seinfeld!” The guy that fitted George for a toupee while Jerry was delivering a biting critique of George’s new “look.” Yeah, and that guy … the salesman. He was funny. Not just funny funny, but funny explosive. A reaction to Jerry that began muted and professional, then suddenly manic. Basil’s character went from demure to demented within seconds — seamlessly. One of those memorable moments in television recalled with “remember that time on ‘Seinfeld …'” Basil was holding court with a group of young filmmakers. Each one of them looked up to the genial thespian. I ventured a question, and asked Basil how it all started for him. “When I came to Hollywood in 1974, I couldn’t get an agent,” Basil said in his characteristic and familiar droll baritone. “So, I started calling casting directors, and I met a lot of them. I actually met 44 casting directors in six months. One of the casting directors, Tom Jennings at Warner Bros., said to me ‘Basil, I know you don’t want an agent. You’re going to work a lot in this town, but you’re not going to do my show. Without an agent we’re gonna rip you off.'” Basil had my attention as he began to address a lament that is familiar to almost all new and aspiring actors. “Now parenthetically, the reason he said I’d never do his show was because he was casting a martial arts Western called ‘Kung Fu.’ It was all stunt men, Western types and martial arts types and all that. And he was wrong, because two weeks later he had to cast a telegraph operator, so I did Tom’s show after all. “Tom then introduced me to an attorney named Hurley Graffius whose clients included Burl Ives, Cesar Romero and Joseph Cotten. So I had a big time Hollywood lawyer who would negotiate for me.” Basil leaned back and laughed while the lesson soaked in. This man who was wearing an Executive Badge to AFM was not pitching a web series or looking for a distribution deal. Basil was making the rounds. Taking meetings and imparting wisdom. Basil left them better than he found them, extolling the virtues that were all about believing in yourself and not following the rules. We were Googling “Basil Hoffman,” and someone found a post where Robert Redford called Basil “his favorite actor,” and wrote “it’s a wonderful thing to trust an actor so completely.” We were about to find out what he meant. “So I get this role in ‘All The President’s Men.’ Every day that we worked in that film was a real day in history. We would have an edition of the Washington Post from the following day tacked up on the walls of the set. So we knew where our characters were in the story, and even where we sat — according to where our desks were. So I read a piece saying my character fought for something in a budget meeting at the Washington Post. I came up with some dialogue, director Alan Pakula loved it, and we shot it.” Basil continued his recollection. “About two weeks later, Redford is walking by my desk on the Washington Post set, and he says ‘Basil, did you get my note?’ And I said ‘No, Bob, I didn’t.’ I must have had a very distressed look on my face. Alan noticed this and said, ‘Well, don’t worry, you’re not fired.’ “That night, I had a hand-written note from Redford, saying that my work in the Budget Meeting scene was ‘real good and contributed to the tone of the film,'” he continued. “About a week later, Alan Pakula comes to me and tells me that Bob wasn’t happy with his scene where Bob Woodward is on the phone with Kenneth Dahlberg, and they had to reshoot it. ‘Bob thinks you’re a good actor and he wants you to play Dahlberg on the phone.’ So I did, and I’m also Kenneth Dahlberg in the film.” Since “All The President’s Men,” Robert Redford has requested Basil for “The Electric Horseman,” “The Milagro Beanfield War” and “Ordinary People.” The actor who hit town with a dream and no representation, has since worked with classic directors like Peter Bogdanovich, Carl Reiner, Richard Benjamin, Oscar winners Stanley Donen, Delbert Mann, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Blake Edwards Sydney Pollack, Michel Hazanavicius, Paolo Sorrentino, the Coen brothers, and of course, Redford. Basil still doesn’t have an agent. He does have a manager, Brad Lemack who, according to Basil “does everything that an agent can do, except stand in the way of my career.” His book “Acting and How to Be Good at It” has a foreword written by Sydney Pollack where he noted that ‘Basil Hoffman writes about acting in a practical, clear way, without mumbo-jumbo or mystique.’ Those of us who sat with Basil came away from our encounter a bit more savvy, and extremely appreciative for the wisdom that was imparted by an actor who is “busier now than he ever has been before.” As Yoda would say: “Always pass on what you have learned.” Thanks Basil.

I'm a character actor, in Hollywood for many years. I am probably best known for my work, often in classic films, with distinguished film directors, including Peter Bogdanovich, Mario Monicelli, Richard Benjamin, Carl Reiner, Peter Medak (five times) and Alan J. Pakula (twice); Academy Award winners Paolo Sorrentino, Michel Hazanavicius, Steven Spielberg, Delbert Mann, Blake Edwards, Stanley Donen, Sydney Pollack, Ron Howard, Robert Redford (twice as director), Ethan and Joel Coen; and many others. My film credits include "All the President's Men," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "The Electric Horseman," "My Favorite Year," "Hail, Caesar!" and Academy Award winning Best Pictures, "Ordinary People" and "The Artist." I am also the author of two acting textbooks, “Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It” and “Acting and How to Be Good at It” with a foreword by Sydney Pollack. In Beirut in 2002, I returned in 2008 as U.S. State Department Cultural Envoy to Lebanon. One final note, I love to work. Acting is not only my profession. It's my passion.

I expect to see many of my writer/director/producer friends at the American Film Market, November 2nd through November 9th. And to the filmmakers I don't know, please let me know if you'll be there so that we can plan to meet . I have an Executive Badge, so I can meet anywhere at the Loews or the Merigot. It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), I want to be in all of your movies. I'm on IMDb.com, of course, and at basilhoffman.com. Let's connect before AFM. 818-247-0302 basilhoffman@charter.net.

This is just a brief note to acknowledge two terrific film directors I have worked with in the last three months. First, I need to thank Richard Gabai for the excellent role he gave me in the aptly titled and very suspenseful drama,”Mommy, I Didn't Do It.” I'm grateful for the freedom Richard gave me, as well as his incisive and succinct direction. And I am very appreciative of the sensitive role created by Charidy Wronski and entrusted to me by another fine director, Dan Hewitt Owens, in a sweet family picture called “Project: Puppies for Christmas.” The mostly Nevada cast and crew were a joy to work with, and it was a special pleasure working for the first time with my friend John Ratzenberger. On another subject, I expect to see many of my writer/director/producer friends at the American Film Market, November 2nd through November 9th. And to the filmmakers I don't know, please let me know if you'll be there so that we can plan to meet . It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), I want to be in all of your movies. I'm on IMDb.com, of course, and basilhoffman.com. basilhoffman@charter.net. 818-247-0302.

Hey Jack , thanks for connecting :)

I want to be in all of your movies!

Working with Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen in "Hail, Caesar!" was a joyful experience and would not have been possible without the loyalty of casting director Ellen Chenoweth (who first cast me in "My Favorite Year" more than thirty years ago). I am grateful to Ellen, and, of course, to Joel and Ethan for including me in a great cast with a terrific script. (My eleventh film with Oscar winning directors.) What a blessing! I thank God for that and for so much more.

Hey Basil, I'm the CTO and lead developer at Stage 32. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about the site. I'd love to hear your comments! To get started with Stage 32 and understand all the features and resources the site has to offer, please check out the Getting Started section and our FAQ.

Hi Basil. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 300,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

This is a network for you, built by you. Like most things in life, the more you participate, the greater the rewards. We ask all new members to pay it forward by inviting 5 fellow creatives to the network and by spreading the word of Stage 32 through other social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The more creatives, the stronger the network. The stronger the network, the more opportunities.

Thanks for joining the movement and for being a part of this most talented and inspiring community. I very much look forward to your contributions.

Thanks, and have a creative day!

RB

Helpful information:

• To send invites to your fellow creatives, please click here.
• For any questions on how to utilize the site, please check our HELP and GETTING STARTED sections.
• Also, I host a FREE webinar every month where I go over site features and answer user questions. You can view them here.

Please take a moment to follow and like our other social media accounts.

• My personal Twitter account - @rbwalksintoabar
• Our company Twitter account - @stage32online.com
• Our company Facebook account – Stage 32 Facebook