Hoffman initially turned the part down, saying: "I didn't think the script was strong enough and I wasn't sure I was the one to play the role." While considering the part, he read Lenny Bruce's autobiography and looked at films with Bruce performing stand-up to live audiences. In the same interview with "Playboy" he recounted: "I began to feel an affinity with him, a realization that there was a lot of Lenny Bruce in me. My wife felt it too... I realized that I'd have to make use of my own spontaneity because he was so spontaneous. And I admired his guts... That intimacy is what an actor tries to get... It occurred to me that if I had known him, I would have wanted us to be friends... and he was a provocateur, and I love to provoke." Movie critic Judith Crist gave Hoffman credit for the ultimate success of the film: