Willy Loman first one he ever read and predated his interest in becoming an actor. He noted that the play resonated with him because his father was a travelling salesman and he had an older brother. Hoffman eventually played the role in a high-school production. In 1965, Hoffman served as the assistant director in an off-Broadway revival of "A View from the Bridge" at the Sheridan Square Playhouse with a cast that included Robert Duvall and Jon Voight. The show's director Ulu Grosbard suggested to Miller that Hoffman had the potential to make a great Willy Loman. Miller was unimpressed and later
Willy Roper he suffers a mental breakdown and refuses any contact with Pauline, which devastates her. Not content with putting Arthur in prison, Willy spends the beginning of 1996 trying to woo Pauline in his absence. Her son Mark Fowler is furious at the amount of time Willy and Pauline spend together, but Pauline finds Willy to be a great comfort and refuses to stop seeing him socially. Following his mother's death in April 1996, Willy asks Pauline to go on holiday to Jersey. Mark correctly figures out that his real motive is to put the stolen money in an off-shore account