Dustin Hoffman calls filming ‘The Graduate’ a ‘terrible experience’

Hoffman writes that he felt unworthy of his starring role in the 1967 film and feared Nichols thought he was miscast. He describes Nichols as frequently sour on set, a change from rehearsals. After an underwater shoot the day after the slap scene, Hoffman says, blood trickled from his ear; he attributed a punctured eardrum to the slaps and water pressure.