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
Hoffman (film) "Call Me Daddy" aired, written by Ernest Gebler, directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Donald Pleasence and Judy Cornwell. It was well received and won an international Emmy.Gebler turned the story into a novel, "Shall I Eat You Now?", published the following year. Producer Ben Arbeid optioned the screen rights to the novel and hired Gebler to write the script for a fee of ₤21,000. The film was one of the first greenlit by Bryan Forbes while he was head of EMI Films. Reportedly, Sellers despised "Hoffman" because the lead character too closely reflected his own personality. According to Bryan