Hollywood, CA (O! Online) – Immediately after receiving the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the quirky American author Truman Capote, Philip Seymour Hoffman announced that his next project would be starring opposite Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible III as the film’s evil villain.

Hoffman appears to be making a career of playing eccentric and complicated characters on the big screen, and this role will apparently be no exception. Hoffman refused to divulge many of the details around the character, but stated that he has already begun to throw himself wholeheartedly into the role, drawing upon some of the character insights that he gleaned from his studies of Capote.

He stated that under guidance of a personal physician, he had begun gaining fifty pounds for the part. Hoffman also began immersing himself in contemporary politics and world affairs.

“I’m kind of limited by the studio as to what I can say,” stated Hoffman, “But this role will be one of the most difficult that I have tackled. This character is kind of an uber powerful and evil man behind the scenes of a system of “Manchurian Candidate” type leaders. It will be difficult to portray the extent of his moral bankruptcy, have it be truly believable and not have it come across as sort of campy.”

Hoffman has been reportedly studying extensively the recent documentary Bush’s Brain (2004) as well as the book upon which it was based in preparation for the role.

When asked about last night’s Oscar, the 38 year old actor stated, “Wow, what a rush! I was overwhelmed. I joked about auctioning it off backstage for ten thousand dollars last night… but, you know, maybe there was something to that. I mean, maybe I’m telling myself that I ought to forget about it and move on to even greater challenges. It’s just an Academy Award… its not like it’s a Medal of Freedom or something.”