1996’s Twister had one heck of a cast of ‘90s and ‘80s faces. There was Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton and Alan Ruck and Cary Elwes and Jami Gertz. And then there was one who stole every scene he was in: Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman had been in a handful of movies prior – with notable performances in Scent of a Woman and Nobody’s Fool – but he was still waiting for his break. This undoubtedly came with Twister, which director Jan de Bont remembers as giving him the gift of working with Hoffman.

Speaking with IndieWire, de Bont recalled Hoffman – who wasn’t yet 30 at the time – being more of a force on Twister than his demeanor suggested. “Way before he became a big star. And I’m so happy that I was able to work with him. He’s a magical actor because, if you see him, he’s a schlumpy-looking guy — clothes are too big on him — but what I liked about it is that he can make that into a character. When he read his dialogue, which was very little in the beginning, I said, ‘How do I get any actor to do that?’” He added that Hoffman brought so much more to Twister than expected, something clearly evidenced on the screen. “But he made that guy come alive in such a way that it really lit up the team too. And when he plays the music in his truck, that was so him. I couldn’t much direct him. That was him. He made that character come alive. That was great. It was pretty rare performance. Pretty amazing.”

The same year Twister ripped into theaters and became one of the highest-grossing movies of 1996, Philip Seymour Hoffman also had his first collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson on Hard Eight. Of course, Hoffman would go on to be one of the finest actors of his generation, but we really do have to go to this blockbuster as his true coming out party, playing storm chaser Dusty in a way that greatly enhanced the Twister ensemble. Just as the forthcoming Twisters pays homage to Bill Paxton, I think Philip Seymour Hoffman is deserving of his own tribute, even if it’s just a Deep Purple needle drop.

Where would you put Twister in your list of favorite early Philip Seymour Hoffman performances?

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