Fans across the globe were shocked and dismayed on Sunday afternoon when news broke that Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman had passed away at age 46. Hoffman had a long and fruitful career as a film actor, stage actor and director and was known for his roles in movies like “Capote,” “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Almost Famous.” Here, Cadenza reflects on some of Hoffman’s best work.

Doubt

“Doubt” came out my junior year of high school, and it was the one of the first difficult movies I remember watching. It tells the story of a priest’s ambiguous relationship with a boy and two nuns’ attempt to find the truth of that relationship. Hoffman plays the priest, and I don’t think any other actor could have played the part with the dexterity required to make me doubt. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams play the two nuns, and the three leads bring out the best in each other. Hoffman’s range is put on full display in the movie; he conveys warmth and cheer but an underlying seediness as well. His exchanges with Streep are a special highlight, with two great actors sharing the screen.

–Trevor Leuzinger

Magnolia

Paul Thomas Anderson and Hoffman have worked together many times, and this is my favorite PTA movie. Hoffman’s part isn’t very big, but he is still excellent. The movie is about a number of interweaving stories; nothing much really happens, but it taps into the human experience in a perfect way. Hoffman has always been a master of making the audience feel compassion for his characters. It is easier in this film; his character is a caretaker for an elderly man, and while this character is not as sleazy as a lot of Hoffman’s other characters, he is still flawed. This is too small of a part to be considered his best, but it has a special place in my heart, and Hoffman’s scenes in the film are what I would show someone to demonstrate his charm and ability to evoke empathy.

–Trevor Leuzinger

Synecdoche, New York

Watching “Synecdoche, New York” after Hoffman’s death is made especially poignant by the film’s beginning, when his character, Caden, reads about deaths in the newspaper at breakfast. As a theater director, husband and father, Caden struggles with his work, relationships and ailing health. The film is beautiful for many, many reasons, and Hoffman’s precise performance of someone as nebulous and complex as the everyday man is among the forefront. The film’s ensemble cast also performs wonderfully, and the screenplay is sharp. “Synecdoche, New York” is close to my heart, and if you’re about to watch it for the first time, expect the film and Hoffman’s acting to linger in your mind for a long time.

–Tina Xiang

The Master

Picking Hoffman’s best performance is a daunting task, prone to inevitable second-guessing. He was the kind of actor who could salvage forgettable films (hello, “Along Came Polly”), his range seemingly limitless. Over the course of a magnificent career, he owned the screen as an action blockbuster villain (“Mission Impossible III”), jaded rock journalist (“Almost Famous”), sleazy phone sex operator (“Punch-Drunk Love”) and seemingly everything in between. But his finest moment came in 2012’s “The Master.” The film’s bone-deep grasp of character psychology gave Hoffman the opportunity to burrow into the psyche of Lancaster Dodd, the supremely arrogant leader of an organization halfway between religion and cult. Dodd’s god complex runs deeper than most actors could even begin to express, yet Hoffman manages to bury Dodd’s insecurity beneath years of delusion. It’s hard to convey magnetism without resorting to broad theatrics, but Hoffman gets to the very heart of charisma, opting for an understated cool where his lesser peers would shoot for the rafters. A master indeed.

–Mark Matousek

Catching Fire

“Catching Fire” may not have been Hoffman’s most highbrow film, but he still brought as much dedication to the role of head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee as he did to any of his other film roles. As the sly puppet master behind the pivotal 75th annual Hunger Games, Heavensbee is one of the film’s most enigmatic characters. Hoffman brought plenty of depth and intrigue to the role, hinting at Heavensbee’s true motives without giving too much away. Heavensbee will also be Hoffman’s last film role—the actor passed away with just a week left of filming for the final installment in the series, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.” As his character becomes more complex and influential in the final two films, expect to see Hoffman steal every scene.

–Katharine Jaruzelski

Capote

Hoffman’s turn as the iconic Truman Capote, author of such famous books as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood,” was one that went beyond reciting lines in front of a camera. Not only did Hoffman slick back his hair, don Capote’s frames and dress the part, but he shed 40 pounds and adopted a high, nasally voice that mimics Capote’s almost perfectly. Perhaps his performance was so good because his obsession with accuracy mirrored that of Capote himself.

“Capote,” based on the very real story of Truman Capote’s extensive research for his true crime novel “In Cold Blood,” is unflinching in its portrayal both of the Clutter family murders—the subject of the book—and of Capote’s intense, often disturbing foray into rural Kansas to sift through the circumstances of the tragedy. Here, Hoffman sculpted a character both familiar and terrifying. In the city, his Capote is a cunning socialite, one who flits in and out of glamorous parties with ease. In Kansas, the author is a haunted artist, compelled by some inner force to probe every corner of the vicious Clutter murders. In his scenes with Clifton Collins Jr., who plays the shockingly childlike murderer Perry Smith, Hoffman’s tenderness is palpable; the long shots, wide panoramas and overwhelming stillness cannot dull the intensity of his emotional performance. “In Cold Blood” showcases Hoffman at his very best: a deeply invested character actor who managed to inject life into even the strangest of characters.

–Maddie Wilson