Gaby Hoffmann

Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and found success as a child actress in '' Uncle Buck'' (1989), '' This Is My Life'' (1992), ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), and then later as a teenager with '' Now and Then'' (1995), ''Everyone Says I Love You'' (1996), ''Volcano'' (1997), '' All I Wanna Do'' (1998), and ''200 Cigarettes'' (1999).

After a hiatus from the industry, Hoffmann returned in 2007, appearing in various independent projects that garnered critical acclaim. This has been described as a career "resurgence", due to her roles in '' Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus'' (2013), '' Obvious Child'' (2014), '' Wild'' (2015), and '' C'mon C'mon'' (2021). On television, she played April in the FX series '' Louie'' (2012), Caroline Sackler in the HBO series '' Girls'' (2014–2017), and Ali Pfefferman in the Amazon Prime series '' Transparent'' (2014–2019), earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the latter two.

Early life

Hoffmann was born in New York City to actor parents. Her mother, Viva, is a retired actress, writer and former Warhol superstar. Her father, Anthony Herrera, was a soap opera actor best known for his role as James Stenbeck in ''As the World Turns''. Herrera was raised in Wiggins, Mississippi by his maternal grandparents; his own father, Gaby's paternal grandfather, was of French and Spanish descent. Herrera died in 2011 from cancer. Viva and Herrera were estranged shortly after Hoffmann's birth; she was raised by her mother at the Chelsea Hotel in New York. Her father did not have a significant presence in her life. Hoffmann's birth is documented in Pat Hackett's ''The Andy Warhol Diaries''. An entry dated January 10, 1982, two days after Hoffmann was born, says a friend telephoned Warhol and told him they were going to the Chelsea Hotel to see Viva and her new baby.

Hoffmann attended elementary school in Manhattan at P.S. 3 on Hudson Street in the West Village, then another school in Hell's Kitchen. After she moved to Los Angeles in 1994, she attended the Buckley School, before finally graduating from Calabasas High School in 1999.

Life at the Chelsea Hotel

Until July 1993, Hoffmann lived in Manhattan's Chelsea Hotel, which Hoffmann later said she enjoyed. According to Hoffmann, she and her best friend Talya Shomron roller-skated in the hallways, spied on the drug dealer across the hall, and persuaded the bellman to go to the neighborhood delicatessen at night to fetch them ice cream.

Hoffmann recalled, "I grew up in downtown New York in the '80s. I have a friend who grew up with me, and she puts it well. She says, 'If you grew up where we grew up, if you weren't an artist, a drag queen, queer, or a drug addict, then you were the freak.' I grew up in a world where I guess what is considered unusual or abnormal for the rest of America was very much considered the norm." She also reported in an interview that there had been gunfire and a rape at the hotel shortly before they moved out.

Hoffmann and her mother left the Chelsea Hotel after a long-standing dispute with the management that ended in eviction. Regardless, Hoffmann's connection to the hotel had a significant effect on her future. The idea for the 1994 sitcom '' Someone Like Me'' originated after Gail Berman (former president of Viacom's Paramount Pictures) read a ''New York Times'' article about the hotel which referred to a children's book that Viva and friend Jane Lancellotti wrote, ''Gaby at the Chelsea'' (a take on Kay Thompson's 1950s classic Eloise books). Berman became the show's producer.

Adolescence on the West Coast

After leaving the Chelsea when Hoffmann was 12, she and her mother moved to the west coast to a two-bedroom rented house in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, which was badly damaged in the January 17, 1994 Northridge earthquake. While regrouping their living situation, Hoffmann and her mother temporarily lived at The Oceana Suites Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

College and assorted jobs

After she graduated from Calabasas High School in 1999, Hoffmann followed her half-sister Alex's example and entered New York's Bard College to pursue a degree in literature and writing. Around 2001, she temporarily left her acting career to complete her studies and graduated in 2004; her senior thesis was a documentary film.

After college, she spent much of her 20s drifting. She interned with a chef in Italy, then trained to be a doula after helping deliver Alex's children. For a time, Hoffmann and a boyfriend lived in an old trailer in the Catskill Mountains.

Career

Acting career in her youth: 1988–2001

Hoffmann began acting in commercials at the age of four to help pay the family bills. In 1989, she starred in her first movie, ''Field of Dreams,'' with Kevin Costner, playing his character's daughter, Karin. 1989's '' Uncle Buck'' followed, working beside John Candy and child star Macaulay Culkin. After ''Uncle Buck'', Hoffmann grew tired of the rigors of screen performance and temporarily retired. Upon hearing of co-star Culkin's income from his following feature films, she reentered the profession. She starred in '' This Is My Life'' (1992), ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993) with Tom Hanks, and ''The Man Without a Face'' with Mel Gibson. According to Hoffmann, the reception from ''This is My Life'' gave her confidence and solidified her desire to return to acting full-time.

In 1994, Hoffmann starred in her own sitcom '' Someone Like Me'' (on NBC) about a young girl, Gaby, and her dysfunctional family. Although generally well received, the series lasted only six episodes. After ''Someone Like Me'', Hoffmann led alongside Shelley Long in the 1995 TV film '' Freaky Friday'', a remake of the 1976 film of the same name starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. In the same year as ''Freaky Friday'', Hoffmann starred as Young Samantha, the childhood counterpart to Demi Moore's character, in the coming-of-age feature film '' Now and Then''. The same year, Hoffmann played Andrea Eagerton in the CBS TV film '' Whose Daughter Is She?''. Between 1996 and 2001, Hoffmann landed roles in several films including ''Everyone Says I Love You'' (1996), ''Volcano'' (1997), ''Snapped'' (1998), '' The Hairy Bird'' (1998), ''200 Cigarettes'' (1999), '' Coming Soon'' (1999), '' Black & White'' (1999), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), and ''Perfume'' (2001).

Theatre work in New York: 2003–2007

Between 2003 and 2007, Hoffmann concentrated on theater in New York. Roles included ''24 Hour Plays'' (as Denise at the American Airlines Theatre), '' The Sugar Syndrome'' (Williamstown Theatre Festival – July/August 2005), and ''Third'' ( Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater/Lincoln Center Theater – September – December 2005). In late 2005, she starred in an episode of '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''. She also appeared in the Broadway play ''SubUrbia'', alongside Kieran Culkin and Jessica Capshaw at the Second Stage Theatre on 43rd Street in New York City, which ran from September to October 2006. Hoffmann then returned to the ''24 Hours Plays'' where she acted alongside Jennifer Aniston.

Return to film work: 2007–present

Since 2007, Hoffmann has made a gradual return to film acting. In 2007, she starred in the film '' Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America''. In 2008, she appeared in ''Guest of Cindy Sherman'', a documentary on art-scene commentator Paul Hasegawa-Overacker's relationship with enigmatic photographer Cindy Sherman. Sherman was married to Hoffmann's stepfather, Michel Auder, from 1984 to 1999. Later in 2008, Hoffmann appeared in the documentary '' Chelsea on the Rocks'', which is a tribute to the Chelsea Hotel where she grew up. Directed by Abel Ferrara, the documentary highlights the many personalities and artistic voices that have emerged from the hotel. In 2009, she had a supporting role in Todd Solondz's '' Life During Wartime'', and the thriller '' 13'' with Mickey Rourke (released in 2010).

Several years later, Hoffmann starred alongside Michael Cera in the adventure comedy film '' Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus'' (2013) directed by Sebastián Silva. While shooting the film in Chile, she and Cera took mescaline for her performance, which was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. In 2013, she joined the Web series entitled ''Lyle'', created by Stewart Thorndike and Joey Soloway. As the series was shot in NYC, she subsequently acquired an apartment in Brooklyn's Fort Greene section. In October 2013, she starred in the 1910s installment of ''Vanity Fairs ''The Decades Series'', "The First March", directed by Gilly Barnes.

In 2012 she portrayed April, a love interested and neurotic ex-girlfriend of the title character portrayed by Louis C.K. in the FX series '' Louie''. Hoffmann took a recurring role portraying Caroline Sackler, the sister of Adam Sackler (Adam Driver) on the Lena Dunham created HBO series '' Girls'' from 2014 to 2017. Her performance was well-received and earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2015.

Joey Soloway, who had watched Hoffman in the third season of ''Louie'', would subsequently write the role Hoffmann plays in '' Transparent.'' In 2016, she appeared in pre-recorded video as an onstage "stand-in" during Sia's Nostalgic for the Present concert tour, for the song "Unstoppable." Her performance is featured on the song's official music video, released in 2021. In 2021, she acted in the Mike Mills drama '' C'mon C'mon''. She acted opposite Joaquin Phoenix playing his estranged sister, Viv, whose husband is going through mental problems. She was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance. From 2022 to 2023, she appeared in the HBO series '' Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.'' In 2024, she co-led the Netflix miniseries ''Eric'' alongside Benedict Cumberbatch.

Personal life

Hoffmann has a daughter, born in 2014, with longtime boyfriend, cinematographer Chris Dapkins.

She lives in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Gaby
1982 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
American child actresses
American film actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Bard College alumni
Actresses from Manhattan
People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn
American people of French descent
American people of Spanish descent