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Hoffman wears his favorite hat when onstage. He has starred in Broadway revivals of True West and Long Day's Journey into Night, and he is co-director of the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York City (where he lives with his girlfriend, costume designer Mimi O'Donnell, and their 2-year-old son Cooper). "Theater is where I have more of a home," he says. "It's a place where you're not going to believe your own press. You either suck or you don't. It's a great humbler."
He's already plenty humble--his own worst, or best, critic. "I criticize myself tremendously," he says with a blush of embarrassment. "I watched Boogie Nights on TV recently, and I remember thinking, 'Oh, God. Do you have to go there?'"
Never mind where he's been. Capote is right where he should be: center stage. And not a moment too soon. It's time for Hoffman to stop having to steal movies and start being handed them. Oh, he's already preparing for a letdown after the buildup. "Everyone's day in the sun is exactly that," he says. "A day." His admiring cult hopes that day will stretch into decades. Remember the '60s when another youngish character actor graduated to a juicy starring role? Did all right for himself. Dustin's surname is Hoffman too.
--Reported by Carolina A. Miranda/New York