Dustin Hoffman Reveals He Had to Go on Unemployment After ‘The Graduate’ Success, ‘Only Took Home’ $3K

Dustin Hoffman made a shocking revelation about his financial situation following the success of his 1967 film The Graduate.

In his new memoir, Look at Me, published on November 10, the 89-year-old wrote that while his life became “surreal” following the film’s release, he was “still basically broke.”

“I only took home $3,000 from The Graduate, after I paid all my expenses, believe it or not. (I had to pay my own way to L.A. for the shoot.) When that money ran out, I went on unemployment,” Hoffman wrote, as cited by The U.S. Sun.

The Oscar-winning actor added that he eventually stopped collecting unemployment benefits after photos of him receiving the payments were published.

“I could never go back in there again,” he wrote. “I was embarrassed by the dirty looks from other people standing in line who needed the money and assumed I didn’t.”

Hoffman also reflected on his relationship with The Graduate director Mike Nichols, admitting that he “often felt” he would be fired.

“It was a terrible experience making the movie that changed my life,” the actor wrote. “The whole time, I felt Mike was angry at me, either because I was doing something wrong or because he had realised what everybody else already knew, that he had miscast the lead in his film.”

Hoffman’s financial struggles eventually came to an end when he landed his next role as Ratso Rizzo in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. He described the movie as “the antidote” he needed at the time.

As for his payment for the film, Hoffman said he demanded “double, just for the hell of it,” which he ultimately received.