 Hoffman rarely mentioned his personal life in interviews , stating in 2012 that he would " rather not because my family doesn 't have any choice . If I talk about them in the press , I 'm giving them no choice . So I choose not to . " For the last 14 years of his life , he was in a relationship with costume designer Mimi O 'Donnell , whom he had met in 1999 when they were both working on the play In Arabia We 'd All Be Kings , which Hoffman directed . They lived in New York City and had a son , Cooper ( 2003 ) , and two daughters , Tallulah ( 2006 ) and Willa ( 2008 ) . Hoffman and O 'Donnell separated in the fall of 2013 , some months before his death . 
