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
Dustin Hoffman In 1967, immediately after wrapping up principal filming on "The Tiger Makes Out", Hoffman flew from New York City to Fargo, North Dakota, where he directed productions of William Gibson's "Two for the Seesaw" and William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life" for the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre. The $1,000 he received for the eight-week contract was all he had to hold him over until the funds from the movie materialized. In 1966 director Mike Nichols auditioned Hoffman for a lead role in the Broadway musical "The Apple Tree" but rejected him because he could not sing well enough and gave