Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead on Sunday morning in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent drug overdose, according to CNN. Hoffman had been sober for 23 years, but fell off the wagon last year. He entered rehab in May of 2013. He was found with a syringe in his arm and heroin in his apartment.
Hoffman won an Oscar for playing Truman Capote during his career and has played incredible roles in “Magnolia” and “Almost Famous.”
In 2008, director Mike Nichols spoke with The New York Times. Nichols was Hoffman’s director for Broadway plays and for “Charlie Wilson’s War.”
“I don’t know how he does it. Again and again, he can truly become someone I’ve not seen before but can still instantly recognize. … He may look like Phil, but there’s something different in his eyes. And that means he’s reconstituted himself from within, willfully rearranging his molecules to become another human being.”
Hoffman earned Academy Award nominations for “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Doubt,” and “The Master.”
Hoffman was one of the most underappreciated actors in Hollywood and had become more recognizable recently.
Hoffman always appeared bothered by fame and did not view himself as a movie star. He spent his time in Manhattan, not Hollywood. He spoke with The Independent in 2012, saying the following:
“Somebody wanted me to talk about my personal life. I’d 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.”
Those who have worked with Hoffman, and those who haven’t, were shocked by the news of his death.
Tom Hanks, who co-starred in “Charlie Wilson’s War” with Hoffman, said, “He was a giant talent.”
Nichols said the following in a statement: “No words for this. He was too great and we’re too shattered.”
The New York Times profiled Hoffman back in 2008 and one of the lines is very haunting with the news of Hoffman’s death.
“For me, acting is torturous, and it’s torturous because you know it’s a beautiful thing,” Hoffman said. “I was young once, and I said, ‘That’s beautiful and I want that.’ Wanting it is easy, but trying to be great — well, that’s absolutely torturous.”