Philip Seymour Hoffman Eyes Broadway Death of a Salesman, Directed by Mike Nichols

Oscar winner and stage vet Philip Seymour Hoffman and director Mike Nichols are in talks to collaborate on a Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in 2011, according to the New York Post. Hoffman would play the iconic role of Willy Loman, paired with Broadway vet Linda Emond as Willy’s long-suffering wife, Linda. No timing or theater has been mentioned, although Nichols’ productions of The Country Girl and Spamalot played in Shubert houses.

Death of a Salesman was most recently produced on Broadway in 1999 in a production that won Tony Awards for Best Revival, Best Actor (Brian Dennehy as Willy), Best Featured Actress (Elizabeth Franz as Linda) and Best Director (Robert Falls). Dennehy told the Post that Hoffman has been fascinated with the play for years, and the two actors had a long discussion about it after Hoffman saw Dennehy play the part in London. “He’s a little young for it, but what the hell?” Dennehy is quoted as saying of the 43-year-old Hoffman; Miller’s script says that the character is 62.

An Oscar winner for playing the title role in Capote, Hoffman received Tony nominations for his performances in True West and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. He and Nichols previously worked together on the starry 2001 Central Park production of The Seagull, in which Hoffman played Konstantin. As artistic director of off-Broadway's LAByrinth Theatre Company, he has starred in and/or directed numerous productions, including Jack Goes Boating. A film adaptation of the play is currently in theaters, directed by and starring Hoffman. His most recent stage appearance was as Iago in a 2009 off-Broadway staging of Othello.