Everyone’s letters to Santa were answered: Dustin Hoffman will never retire. Hurray! Hoffman is currently promoting Last Chance Harvey, which we covered a few weeks ago, and he’s giving some of his lovely “no bullsh-t” interviews to promote the little film.

Hoffman takes about aging in Hollywood versus Europe, and his hopes for working until death. It actually reminds me of a story Hoffman told on “Inside the Actor’s Studio” about working with Laurence Olivier on Marathon Man. I can’t find the exact transcript, but it basically boiled down to the fact that Olivier knew Marathon Man would be one of his last films, and was just doing it so that he could leave a little money for his family. Hoffman talked about how even though Olivier was just doing it for the money, Olivier simply loved to act, and wasn’t capable of “phoning it in” even if Olivier was in pain. Hoffman cried as he told the story. It was a good episode, and a reminder that Hoffman might be the best “get” for any entertainment journalist out there.

At 71, Dustin Hoffman says he will never retire from acting, but he may have to look far beyond the Hollywood that made him famous to find the roles he relishes as he ages. His latest film, “Last Chance Harvey,” is a small ode to finding love late in life, a theme that should resound with the fastest-growing movie-going audience — viewers over 40. It opens in U.S. theaters on Christmas Day.

[The] two-time Oscar winner and seven-time nominee doesn’t think the Hollywood studios — bent on big films that blanket theaters — are capable of taking on senior romance. “If I had my druthers, it wouldn’t be to change the studio system. It would be to add two or maybe three languages to my repertoire, which now only consists of street English,” Hoffman said in a recent interview.

“But if I could speak French, Spanish and Italian, I’d be working in movies that interested me more. They still honor love stories about people who are past the age of not needing facial work. You can age in Europe.”

“Last Chance Harvey,” written and directed by British filmmaker Joel Hopkins, was tailor-made for Hoffman and Thompson, friends since they made “Stranger than Fiction” a few years ago. Hoffman made sure that Harvey, like himself, was a frustrated jazz pianist. Divorced, lonely and about to lose his job as a past-his-prime jingles composer, Harvey heads to London for his daughter’s wedding. As he obsesses about getting back to New York to save his job, Harvey careens toward failure as a father until he meets sensitive and hopelessly single Kate.

Kate, a middle-aged woman held back by a needy mother and a go-nowhere job, dreams of becoming a writer. A most unlikely pair, Harvey and Kate roam the streets of a romantic London and mull over life and dreams. A turning point comes when Harvey, at Kate’s urging, rushes back to the daughter’s wedding and makes a speech that could have gone terribly wrong, but instead redeems him.

[Hoffman] hopes to emulate legends who worked up to the end of their lives with good humor, even in failing health. One of his favorite examples is the late comedian George Burns, who said: “Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope.”

“To have that playfulness about mortality,” said Hoffman. “If that isn’t the object of life, I don’t know what is.”

[From Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter]

Okay, as I’m hearing more about Last Chance Harvey, I think it sounds a little depressing. But I still want to see it. Both Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman got Golden Globe (Comedy or Musical) lead actor nominations, so perhaps it’s funnier than Reuters is making it sound. I also appreciate what Hoffman says about aging, specifically aging in Hollywood. Even though there is a double standard for actors versus actresses, Hoffman has been told many times that he’s too old or not handsome enough to play a part – it even happened with his breakout role in The Graduate. Hopefully, there are more producers who want to work with him, regardless of age or looks, because more films need Dustin Hoffman.

Update by Celebitchy: On Monday Hoffman appeared on The Late Show where he told an hysterical story about how he was once in full drag for his famous role in the 1982 classic Tootsie and propositioned an unknowing Jose Ferrer in an elevator. He flattered Ferrer’s acting and then said “I’ll never get this chance again. Would you mind if I s’cked your c***?” Ferrer’s response: “Not right now.” Here’s the clip, thanks to Huffington Post for featuring it:

Dustin Hoffman is shown in the header at “The Tale Of Despereaux” premiere on 12/7/08. Credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures. He is shown below outside the Late Show on 12/22/08. Credit: WENN