An older Dustin Hoffman interview making the rounds online shows the actor tearing up over his regret at not having known more “interesting women” because they did not “fulfill, physically, the demands that we’re brought up to think [they] have to have in order for us to ask them out.”

Hoffman was talking about preparing for his role in the 1982 comedy “Tootsie,” directed by Sydney Pollack.

The Academy Award-winning actor’s vulnerable confession reveals the profound personal and social loss both men and women suffer at being “brainwashed,” as he says, into valuing image and appearance over substance and quality of character in themselves and others. For this experience, Hoffman says, the film was not a comedy for him.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

afi:

Your support is crucial...

As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.

Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.

Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG