Dustin Hoffman describes why he loves the film: Next came director Barry Levinson's "Rain Man" (1988), where Hoffman starred as an autistic savant, opposite Tom Cruise. Levinson, Hoffman and Cruise worked for two years on the film, and Hoffman's performance gained him his second Academy Award. Behind Hoffman's motivation for doing the film, he has said, "Deep inside, "Rain Man" is about how autistic we all are." In preparation for the part, Hoffman spent two years befriending autistic people, which included taking them bowling and to fast food restaurants. "It fed my obsession," he has stated. Hoffman worked at the New York
Hannah Gross the Rain and Let Me Listen" in 2012. Gross was cast in "I Used to Be Darker" (2013) after meeting its director, Matthew Porterfield, at the after show party for the New York City screening of his previous film, "Putty Hill" (2010). Also in 2013, she played the title character in Dustin Guy Defa's short film "Lydia Hoffman Lydia Hoffman". Gross played the lead female character in Charles Poekel's film "Christmas, Again", which had its premiere at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival. She also performed in Nathan Silver's 2014 film "Uncertain Terms," and reunited with him in his 2015