BBC Four: You say in the film that you've got an "aversion to politics". Why is that?
Philip Seymour Hoffman: The aversion was not really any feeling about politics now. My mother was big into the Democratic Party in our community, people would come and speak in the backyard and I rebelled against it when I was younger. That's not really explained in the film. As I got older and became more knowledgeable about politics and how democracy works I got more interested. That's what led me to do this documentary. It was another opportunity to educate myself about how America deals with electing its president and how issues are dealt with.
BBC Four: There are a couple of times in the film when you're almost speechless at the replies of interviewees. Whose opinions shocked you most?
PSH: A lot of those reactions are just me allowing the interviewee to expound. I wanted them to keep saying what they believed. I wasn't that shocked by a lot of things because once you start looking there are so many different views. Everything is turned on its ass - the people you think you're going to like you don't like and the people you think you're not going to like you end up liking.
BBC Four: Were there people who you were surprised to warm to?
PSH: It wasn't anyone in particular. You meet someone who has liberal views but ultimately don't believe them because you can see they have a lot of selfish motives. Then there are people who are very conservative who you end up liking because they have a lot of conviction. They're very honest and you see that they believe what they're saying. There's something about that that's very attractive. I either liked people or I didn't. Their views on politics had little to do with it.
BBC Four: We see quite a lot of dissent in the film but from the way the US media is reporting Bush's War on Terror it seems there isn't much room for that at the moment. Is that your experience?
PSH: The only way the media suppresses protests in this country is by not reporting on it well. The popular media doesn't get into why protestors are actually there in any in-depth way. There are protests all the time, they're just not reported. I think the movement itself is stronger now than it has been for some time. There are a lot of young people getting involved and I think it's a good thing. My generation and the generation behind me are saying the world can't go on like this.
BBC Four: The 2000 election turned out to be truly bizarre. Did it seem a fitting end to Last Party?
PSH: It was such a shock. We were bamboozled. A fitting end? I guess so. As people making a documentary we lucked out on one of the great stories. Ultimately it's shown our country and the world that the United States has got to reform the way we vote. In the movie when I'm down on the floor at the conventions and asking people what the electoral college is, half the people didn't know. It's not because they are ignorant. It's because it's hard to understand. It really was a good wake-up call and hopefully reforms will go into place that will be part of a protest movement when the next election comes round.
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