Philip Seymour Hoffman's First ET Interview

With Hollywood reeling Sunday following the shocking news of renowned actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's premature death, we take a look back at the first interview we conducted with the Oscar winner.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has a number of muses that populate his films, but only Philip Seymour Hoffman had the distinction of starring in five of his films, going all the way back to 1996's Hard Eight. We remember his first ET interview, talking about 1999's Magnolia.

Calling the film "profound and deep and moving," Hoffman talks about Magnolia's lengthy, three-hour-plus running time ("I didn't care … I could've watched more") and working in particular with Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore among the ensemble cast. He also lauds the solid amount of "powerful filmmaking" in cinema around the turn of the 21st century.

Asked if he would like to work with Anderson again, Hoffman replies, "Oh, we'll definitely work again, yeah," adding with a laugh, "What does he say? 'You can never reject me!'"