Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

[Drucker]

Flawless was another excellent performance by him (though a hard picture to get through for me). Got a text message about this on the way home from Philadelphia right now and truly this is the first time a celebrity has died and it has that potent mixture of totally unexpected and so saddening for me.

The Master, Capote, TWISTER, Big Lebowski, Almost Famous...he could handle huge commercial fare and absolutely serious roles. Will truly miss his acting.

[domino harvey]

He was also good in the unexpected romantic comedy lead role for Mamet's State and Main. And looking at his filmography right now, apparently he guest voiced on PBS' Arthur! As if I couldn't love him more!

[knives]

For those looking for a pure comedic Hoffman perf to get them through this terrible news, I recommend his work in Charlie Wilson's War, an underrated gem of a movie really

Or his very early role in My Boyfriend's Back which is way more memorable than it should be.

[Movie-Brat]

I was just shocked. At first, I thought it was a hoax but the more I found out, it was true. And it's really unfortunate. Hell, the last movie I saw him in was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

[domino harvey]

Apt quote from Time's James Poniewozik:

A lot of deaths feel sad. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s feels like a robbery.

[flyonthewall2983]

Him as Freddy Lounds is probably the only improvement Red Dragon has over Manhunter.

[Professor Wagstaff]

what a horrible outcome after so many years of sobriety, worse yet to know that he had three young children. I always assumed I'd get years of Paul Thomas Anderson and Bennett Miller collaborations. By all accounts he was also a great stage actor. I tried in vain to snag tickets to his recent "Death of a Salesman" revival, but they were a hot ticket. Sad to know the stage and screen lost a true titan.

[Kirkinson]

He was also good in the unexpected romantic comedy lead role for Mamet's State and Main. And looking at his filmography right now, apparently he guest voiced on PBS' Arthur! As if I couldn't love him more!

[repeat]

So sad. Loved all of his work regardless of how I liked the films - just last week I dragged myself to see A Late Quartet solely on grounds of his participation, and have got Charlie Wilson's War, Jack Goes Boating, Love Liza and even Pirate Radio in my kevyip all for the same reason. High time to cue them all up. RIP.

[jbeall]

Awful news. RIP.

[lacritfan]

Of all his films, I feel most drawn to watch Synecdoche, New York right now. So that's where you'll find me, trying to latch onto perhaps his coldest, most distant work.

This is the first film that popped into my head too if only for that

Spoiler

final (now depressingly appropriate) scene.

I can still remember seeing Scent of a Woman and thinking they found a real-life rich kid preppie to basically play himself. His zero vanity playing Scotty J, embarrassingly trying to tug his shirt down over his gut and breaking down in his car "I'm such a fucking idiot!" As Lester Bangs sitting alone on the floor "...because I'm not cool." I'll leave it at three.
I was never more happy for someone to win an Oscar than him, someone who paid his dues and continued to stay true to himself and the filmmakers he admired. My god what a waste. He apparently has three kids too...

[oh yeah]

Very tragic. I have immense empathy for addicts, esp. heroin/opiates, and it pained me to see him slipping up last year after 20~ years of sobriety. Unfortunately, seen in that light, today isn't a huge surprise, but it sounds like he had really fell deep into it (using needles etc. if the reports are correct). Just shows how easily an addict can slip back into past behavior and go even further with it. I do have to wonder if he was in a lot of pain, emotionally, and this may have been not a suicide but something close to it -- i.e. upping the dose recklessly because he didn't care either way. Just speculation, as even though I'm not "shocked," at the same time I am in shock, that he is gone, and I feel the need to make some kind of sense of it. Another immensely talented and kindhearted artist lost to a senseless and cruel internal struggle.

[Gregory]

I was shocked by this and didn't even realize he had an addiction.

Did anyone here get to see him on the stage as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman a couple of years ago?

[Charles]

I, too, hoped this was some kind of news media hack or fuck-up.

I rarely bother to post in RIP threads these days, however much the person or their art meant to me. There are thousands of people who speak for me just fine on these things. But this is one of those that stuns, and some contribution must be made.

I'm one of apparently many who didn't know anything about an addiction, since I so rarely follow celebrities' personal lives in the first place. I only knew this guy could blow me away no matter what the role or how serious or light the film. I treasure all the ones I've seen, and collected, and am quite frankly happy to know there are a good number I have yet to see.

[oh yeah]

His "internal struggle" as you call it , oh yeah, or his habit as I call it would not have been an issue let alone the cause of his death if the fucking world was a more sane place and opiates and all other drugs of addiction were legalized, sold under controlled conditions and labelled for strength. Like fucking cigarettes and booze.

How much longer can anyone justify the criminalization of heroin etc, and far worse the totally unintended consequences of death by unexpected overdose.

Let's not get too fancy about this, we are all addicts to something or other. In one way or another. I certainly am to more than one substance. None of us better or worse then Hoffman.

I completely agree. Internal struggle, habit, whatever term you wish to put on it.. I have more than enough experience with that but this isn't the place to air it. But anyway, that is why deaths like these, whether the person is a remarkable actor or not, hit me so hard. It is indeed not just a matter of personal problems but of a society that marginalizes people who need help, treating them like criminals instead. Our society needs to understand addiction to make progress on this, but unfortunately most people don't seem to understand addiction, that it's not a series of voluntary choices like any other thing, etc. Consequently, I try to avoid comments on news articles relating to addiction, lest my blood boil too much... But I digress.

[dx23]

I was shocked by this and didn't even realize he had an addiction.

Same here. My reaction was blurting a WTF?!? out-loud at a restaurant when the breaking news popped on my phone. To me he was not only a great actor, but one that made every movie he was in so much better, like Gary Oldman and Steve Buccemi. I don't remember a single role of his that was even mediocre. Everything he did was incredibly good. I love his role in Boogie Nights, Almost Famous and in the last Hunger Games movie, where brought credibility and gravitas to what I considered to be a mediocre franchise. I was actually looking forward to seeing him in the sequels and now its all gone like that.

[flyonthewall2983]

I really hope his Showtime series is picked up now. It'll obviously have to be a one-off, but I really was curious to see how he'd fare in that kind of environment.

[domino harvey]

Apparently he had seven days left of filming for the Hunger Games, so they'll likely just edit/re-write around him-- meaning, of course, that now those final two films will be his last films (he had two indies at Sundance yet to come, but they'll be here and gone by the time the sequels roll out)

[dx23]

Apparently he had seven days left of filming for the Hunger Games, so they'll likely just edit/re-write around him-- meaning, of course, that now those final two films will be his last films (he had two indies at Sundance yet to come, but they'll be here and gone by the time the sequels roll out)

That's good to know. Still, this feels like Heath Ledger all over again. Incredibly talented actors gone too soon.

[Perkins Cobb]

Who would've thought we'd lose PSH before PBH. Still having a hard time dealing with this.

It is a shame that the Hunger Games movies will be the last we see of him. The Showtime series has to be toast at this point (it was in development for a long time and was green-lit only when Hoffman agreed to do it), but I hope Showtime has enough sense to air the pilot as a tribute, even though that rarely happens with dead pilots these days.

[lacritfan]

Still grappling with this. He easily had two to three dozen great roles left in him.

[Perkins Cobb]

And now both of the principals in this scene, Hoffman and Christopher Evan Welch, are dead. Heartbreaking.

[flyonthewall2983]

The Showtime series has to be toast at this point (it was in development for a long time and was green-lit only when Hoffman agreed to do it), but I hope Showtime has enough sense to air the pilot as a tribute, even though that rarely happens with dead pilots these days.

Just read that they only finished the pilot and not the whole season as I'd hoped. It would be nice if the network winds up showing it paired with a tribute to his career. I really don't know if I could support a show that just recasts him, wouldn't feel right.

In all the time I've been on Twitter I can't really remember something on the level of the outpouring of grief I've seen over the death of a celebrity. Maybe Gandolfini, but the added tragedy of addiction has brought out heartfelt responses from recovering addicts has made it all the more personal if that makes any sense..

[Perkins Cobb]

Maybe Gandolfini, but the added tragedy of addiction has brought out heartfelt responses from recovering addicts has made it all the more personal if that makes any sense..

Not to mention finger-wagging from judgmental douchebags, blaming the dead guy for being selfish and leaving his family behind. Unbelievable.

[Sloper]

Still grappling with this. He easily had two to three dozen great roles left in him.

Exactly - it seemed like he was just getting into his prime, and was making such brave and interesting choices… He was also that rare thing, a great and versatile character actor who actually got the chance to shine in major starring roles.