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Dustin Hoffman has recalled feeling profoundly out of place at the Chateau Marmont during “The Graduate.” He said the pool resembled “a cabana party on Mount Olympus,” with guests who “looked like golden gods.” Though starring in a Mike Nichols film, Hoffman felt “uncomfortable, unworthy” and never returned.
He had been staying with his parents in Los Angeles while shooting, but his father’s daily questioning and criticism drove him away after about five days. Hoffman moved to the hotel where the cast and crew were staying. He described himself as alienated from the previous generation, much like his character.
Hoffman initially resisted auditioning because he thought he was wrong for Benjamin Braddock, a track star and affluent all-American Wasp. He told Nichols that the blond, athletic figure on a Time cover of Americans “Twenty-five and Under” was better suited. Nichols replied, “Maybe he’s Jewish inside.”
Casting had already taken almost two years. Buck Henry, co-screenwriter, said Robert Redford and Candice Bergen were envisioned as “the ideal couple,” but nothing clicked after Redford and others were seen. Hoffman and Katharine Ross were cast late; Hoffman maintains he would not have gotten the part if he had read earlier.
At the time, Hoffman was building a theatre career Off Broadway in “Eh?”, with standing ovations and a New York Times Arts cover. He was wary of Hollywood, saying studios kept “beautiful people imprisoned in seven-year contracts.” He also preferred European directors such as Truffaut, Buñuel, Antonioni, and Godard to American movies.
The recollection shows how a casting choice against type became central to “The Graduate” and to Hoffman’s career. Nichols’s line reframed Benjamin’s identity as possibly “Jewish inside,” challenging the Wasp image from Charles Webb’s novel. It also underscores Hoffman’s ambivalence about Hollywood even as the role helped make him a star.
