Sam Rockwell Reveals His Biggest Movie Regret, Says His Opportunities Were ‘Squandered’

There’s one thing that actor Sam Rockwell wishes he did differently when he looks back at his movie career.

During the Friday, June 20 episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Rockwell confessed he wished he had taken up the opportunity to work onscreen with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

“I had two opportunities, maybe three, and they were squandered and I regret that,” Rockwell, 56, admitted on the podcast. “There’s a couple [of actors] — I could have worked with Nick Nolte, could have worked with Kurt Russell, really been kicking myself. Richard Jenkins. They’re still out there, there’s time.”

Rockwell continued: “But Phil, we were very close, we were good friends and he directed me and he was just one of the guys. He was the guy.”

Oscar-winning actor Hoffman died in February 2014 from a drug overdose at age 46. He was found dead in the bathroom of his West Village apartment, the NYPD confirmed to Us Weekly at the time.

Rockwell went on to describe the late star as having “so much work ahead of him and he was a young guy and he was special” during the podcast appearance.

He also praised Hoffman’s acting skills, particularly his ability to effectively harness emotions within his work.

“He had the emotional power of a George C. Scott or John Malkovich, a kind of emotional ferocity, the kind of stuff that Laurie Metcalf does or Gary Oldman or John Malkovich,” Rockwell said. “He had that emotional power — that’s what my teacher used to call it, emotional power — and then he also was transformational and he could transform.”

In 2018, Rockwell won an Oscar for best actor in a supporting role for his performance in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Rockwell paid tribute to Hoffman in his acceptance speech.

“For my old buddy Phil Hoffman!” he concluded his speech at the time, as he lifted his Oscar trophy in the air.

Backstage at the awards ceremony, Rockwell emotionally explained why he gave a shoutout to Hoffman in the acceptance speech, sharing that his “old friend” once directed him in a Public Theater play in New York City.

“He was a great inspiration and a great theater director,” Rockwell said, per Good Morning America.”He inspired me and I could go on for an hour about Phil Hoffman.

Rockwell added, “Philip Seymour Hoffman was a good friend and he was a huge, huge inspiration on me.”