Dustin Hoffman Says He Secretly Co-Wrote Two Oscar-Winning Films
Dustin Hoffman has two Oscars for acting, but by his estimation, he deserves at least a few more: for writing.
The 77-year-old actor revealed in a new profile in The Telegraph that he had a major hand in the scripts of some of his most memorable movies — including two that won best screenplay Oscars — but turned down the WGA credit at the time.
“I cowrote Kramer vs. Kramer with the writer–director [Robert Benton],” Hoffman said. “When we were done he said, ‘I want to give you a writing credit.’ I said, ‘No, no, Bob, that’s alright’. That was always my position.”
Evidently, Benton had written an early draft of the screenplay, which Hoffman said did not ring all that true to the experience of his own divorce.
"There’s nothing in the script that has the feeling of what I’m going through,” he says he told Benton. “There’s something much more layered – in fact, I’ve never seen a film that shows the depth of feeling that happens in a divorce.”
Kramer vs. Kramer ended up winning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and Hoffman took a statuette for Best Actor.
Hoffman says that he also made contributions to the scripts of Rain Man and Tootsie — he earned his second best actor Oscar for the 1988 drama (which also won for best adapted screenplay), and a nomination for his work in the beloved 1982 comedy.
Watch a trailer for Kramer vs. Kramer
