LAURA LINNEY AND PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN FORM SIBLING BOND

Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman play brother and sister in The Savages.

Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star in The Savages as Wendy and Jon Savage, estranged siblings who come together to put their even more estranged father played by Philip Bosco into a nursing home when he develops dementia.

Laura who has a half sister 11 years younger in real life says she liked the idea of having Philip as her movie brother.

“We just sort of got along really well number one and we really enjoy working together so that certainly helps. And then the script provided all sorts of clues and hints and things for us to grab onto to build the relationship but we had a ball, we really did. I mean I have a half sister so I don’t have a sibling who I grew up with so it’s really foreign territory so it’s fun for me to have all these fictional brothers out there.”

The two actors have crossed paths backstage admiring each other’s work in the theater which Philip Seymour Hoffman believes is what made them believable as brother and sister.

“We really hit it off. She’s a real sweetheart and a great actress. It’s nice having her be my sister. Our rapport together is good. I think we’re very similar in a lot of ways as people, not as people completely but how we deal with acting and how we feel about it and our sensitivity about things and stuff and that’s helped a lot especially with this kind of story.”

The Savages is written and directed by Tamara Jenkins who made her debut with the critically acclaimed The Slums Of Beverly Hills which featured Marisa Tomei currently co-starring with Hoffman in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead.