35. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote
      Capote (2005)

Hoffman disappears below layers of artifice to become the writer of In Cold Blood, using his voice, his carriage, his mannerisms—and the result lays bare the man’s core of self-loathing glossed over with vanity. As Capote burrows into the sordid truths of other people’s lives and deaths, Hoffman opens up the man’s little rages and silent torments. Utterly convincing during the peaks of Truman’s gadfly persona, Hoffman also reveals his cutting brilliance during quiet moments with Harper Lee. And when Truman goes off the grid into catatonic despair, Hoffman provokes sympathy and contempt in equal measure.

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