Capote star acts in directorial debut

But when Hoffman decided to direct a big-screen version,at the suggestion of the play’s co-star John Ortiz,he was adamant about finding a new headliner.

“We found someone pretty wonderful that would have been amazing and he wanted to do it,” Hoffman said at a post-screening Q&A session,declining to identify him. But the actor was not available last winter. Since it was not practical to postpone shooting by a year,Hoffman found himself on both sides of the camera. Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega reprised their roles as a couple whose marriage is fraying,and Amy Ryan joined the lineup as Jack’s equally awkward love interest,Connie.

The movie,which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January,had a limited release last Friday via Liberty Media Corp’s Overture Films.

The action follows the couple’s attempts to set up Jack and Connie. Jack prepares for the big courtship by learning to swim so that he won’t drown if he falls overboard when the couple go boating in the summer. He also learns to cook. Hoffman said he found it difficult switching gears between directing and acting. A veteran stage director,he relishes the collaborative aspect of the work. “I’m a much easier person to be around,” he said. “Even when it gets really tough there’s a joyfulness to it because you’re just in it.” Acting,on the other hand,is “a different beast,” he said. “You’ve got to create a sense of privacy and focus that’s so sharp that you have to hold over for a period of time.”

So when the time came for a difficult conversation between Jack and Connie after a truncated make-out session,Hoffman blew it. “That day was a really hard day. … I did a lot of takes,” he said recalling that he would get depressed as he looked at the playback on the monitor.

“There were moments like that where it got kinda dark. That’s when I had to grow up and I’d leave the set and say ‘You’re not a director,you’re an actor,’ and do what I need to do,go back and do it.” While he is open to directing another feature,“I don’t want to direct myself again,” he said.