Philip Seymour Hoffman is an actor.
Philip Seymour Hoffman . Drawn to theater as a teenager , Hoffman studied acting at New York University 's Tisch School of the Arts . Remembered for his fearlessness in playing reprehensible characters , and for bringing depth and humanity to such roles , Hoffman was described in his New York Times obituary as `` perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation '' .