6) Philip Seymour Hoffman
One of the most shocking moments from The Master comes when Lancaster Dodd is provoked by a skeptic and, seemingly involuntarily, blurts out “Pig fuck!” It’s a rare instance of this purported Master exhibiting a lack of control over his mind and mouth, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s delivery of it is characteristically perfect.
The man knew his way around an F-word. There are a plenty of incredible scenes where he demonstrates a range of emotions and uses for the word, including his window-smashing rant in Charlie Wilson’s War after John Slattery calls him “coarse,” or his heartbreaking meltdown in Boogie Nights where he repeats over and over to himself “I’m a fucking idiot.”
My personal favorite comes from Punch-Drunk Love, yet another collaboration between Hoffman and Paul Thomas Anderson. Playing off of the irrepressible rage of Adam Sandler, he lets loose in a way that’s both frightening and comedically impotent. After all, these are two men trying to intimidate each other by shouting over the phone—the epitome of impotent rage. It will never not suck that Philip Seymour Hoffman is gone. He was the master.
