Rest In Peace Master
Sunday, February 2, 2014 at 2:28PM Amir here. It's a Sunday and you're pobably expecting my box office column, but I feel too devastated to focus on anything but the tragic news about Philip Seymour Hoffman. A true giant of screen acting has left us today. There is speculation aplenty about why and how this happened, all of which amounts to very little of significance. All that really matters is that the man was too young to go and had many great perfomances ahead of him. And he leaves behind a rich body of work that speaks for itself.
Hoffman was the type of actor that could make you connect with a character irrespective of the size of the role. He poured everything into his performances.
I first fell in love with him as he was failing to find love in Boogie Nights, and he never failed to impress me since then, with performance after perfomance, creating an ouevre that is arguably the most compelling of any actor this side of the century. Whether in complex, challenging films like The Master or Synecdoche, New York or in a gentle animated film like Mary & Max, Hoffman breathed life into an astonshingly varied array of characters, exhibiting his range across many genres. He could be charming, sympathetic, despicable, loveable and terrifying; often all of which at the same time, in the same film, in the same scene.
I don't have the words to express how sad I feel about this, but suffice it to say that he's one of the first actors whose career I consciously followed and connected with, and that's the highest praise I can think of for an actor. His work touched me on a personal, profound level. I will forever cherish him in Capote, Moneyball, The Savages, The Master, Punch-Drunk Love, Boogie Nights... and the list goes on and on.
Scent of a Woman (his first year in the movies, 1992)
Nobody's Fool (1994) but still looking for his breakout role
Boogie Nights - collaborating with P.T. Anderson was the key
Proving he'd do just about anything onscreen in Happiness (1998)
Nathaniel's favorite PSH role Magnolia (1999)
The oft quoted Lester Bangs in Almost Famous (2000)
His Oscar winning performance as Capote (2005)
As one half of The Savages (2008) with The Lovely Laura Linney
Synecdoche New York (2009)
In his most recent role as Plutarch Heavensbee in the Hunger Games franchise
Reader Comments (34)
"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what we share with someone else when we're uncool."
Amir - peace not piece
There's no way to prepare for news like this. I am absolutely crushed.
3rtful - Corrected. Thank you! As mentioned in the post, I can't think straight.
I am shocked,both him and ledger taken to soon,who would have predicted at 2006's oscars,a real cinema loss.
I am sitting here crying over this unbearably sad news. A true "Master." What an incredible loss.
Wow. I wasn't like a huge fan or anything, but this is so sad. He was so talented and only 46. I had no idea he had a drug addiction (whether that contributed or not; I'm just saying I had no idea). So sad.
A giant of the screen, I knew that whenever I watched a movie with Philip Seymour in it chances were it would have some of the most intelligent acting. His role as Andy Hanson in Before the Devil Knows Your Dead was my favourite, but there are just too many great performances from a man I consider to be right up there with the finest actors of his generation.
This is truly a dark day for cinema. RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman
What a terrible loss! I can't digest this news today. My top one actor, by far and without exaggeration. Crushed.
very sad. really liked him as an actor too (even watched "love liza'").
Fucking heroin. He was found with a needle in his arm. I'm sickened and disgusted.
RIP.
Such sad news. One of the greatest actors of all time. An amazing talent. :(
Its always sad when someone dies stupidly. Unless it was intentional and then its sad for other reasons (and we don't know the facts, and won't for some time but dying of a drug overdose is stupid. Period.).
I wish the cop who found it so necessary to tell the press, remaining anonymous "Because he wasn't sure Hoffman's family had been told." would be taken to task for this (anonymous my ass, he didn't want his name revealed because he knew how wrong he was to tell before the family had been informed). How horrible it would be to find out that a loved one had died through the "news." There are children involved. They deserve respect no matter what the situation or make of the man.
Before anyone jumps on me for "make of the man." For the purpose of this rant, the "make" is his celebrity status. That in no way over rides the ethical need to give his girlfriend (and their children) some time to wrap their head around what has happened. This cop and his need to be the tattle-tale of salacious news is not greater than respect for their emotions. Less than 2 hours after he had been discovered, details are all over the major news sources, including the NYTimes. It would have been just as salacious in 24 hours, but the family would have had a cushion. I hate this part of celebrity culture.
I can't even type. He was the best.
Henry -- i wasn't aware that there'd been no time delay. thanks for informing. She (PSH's girlfriend Mimi O Donnell) has since released a statement to 'respect their privacy'
I am devastated. He was the best contemporary working actor, and I've been saying that since Boogie Nights. So sad!
I'm in such shock. Not only was he a great actor, he was a constant presence in great movies, and the two aren't always the same.
YES: "There is speculation aplenty about why and how this happened, all of which amounts to very little of significance. All that really matters is that the man was too young to go and had many great perfomances ahead of him."
So sad about this. My favourite performances were Happiness and Boogie Nights, just an incredible actor. He went to places not many others would dare to go.
Such sad news.
He wasn't my favorite ever or anything but he was indeed a solid and original character actor who appeared in so many great and interesting movies.
Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Capote, Almost Famous, The Savages, Mary & Max and Happiness are the bright spots for me in his career. RIP.
My favourite actor (by far) and, in my opinion, pound-for-pound the best actor of his generation.
I'm absolutely devastated and at a loss for words; I hope his family can find peace.
My favourite actor (by far) and, in my opinion, pound-for-pound the best actor of his generation.
I'm absolutely devastated and at a loss for words; I hope his family can find peace.
There is speculation aplenty about why and how this happened, all of which amounts to very little of significance. All that really matters is that the man was too young to go and had many great performances ahead of him. And he leaves behind a rich body of work that speaks for itself.
Such beautiful words. Thank you, Amir.
Such a loss, just devastating. Life can truly be so difficult.
I never revered him the way so many of my fellow actors and film enthusiasts did, but his passing, especially in such a way, is truly unfortunate in every sense of the word.
Terrible, terrible news.
Thank you for this piece, Amir.
RIP Master.
Wow! Joan Fontaine, Peter O'Toole, Juanita Moore, Maximillian Schell, now PSH! So many in such short time! And this one is particularly tough, considering it was a young actor at his career prime years (also considering the sad way it happened). Rest in Peace!
shocked, such a sad news!
Heroin was the master. My uncle died of it. It's nothing to fuck around with. Rest in peace.
Far too difficult to put into words how devastating this is to hear. I will say this though, certain films are just not gunna be the same when we consider what would've been a tremendous finish to his already extensive career. My thoughts go out to his family & friends. Too soon :'(
So it was true after all. So tragic and unnecessary. The world is deprived of future great work that's hard to overlook. And leaving three young children behind. Just terrible to all around. Tragic day in a sea of huge losses to the film community. This year's In Memoriam is going to be BRUTAL! I'm so not looking forward to it.
I'll always love him in Almost Famous. So sad.
A truly great talent. One of my favorite actors and seemed like a genuinely nice guy. When I first heard the news I hoped to god it was a joke. This is incredibly sad and unexpected...RIP Hoff
Caden Cotard and Lancaster Dodd have the acting force to light another actor's whole filmography. RIP PSH. His roles always felt lived in, understood, and always at a high velocity. Film has a void. Too soon and please have empathy for those who face addiction and those who are in recovery every day from those addictions.
I was really shocked when I've read it yesterday. I could not believe it was true.
Such a great loss of a great actor and father of three young children.
I'd have never thought he was addicted. Damn drugs!
Though I am surprised he was 46. I thought he was at least 50.
Nevertheless... I really liked him in everything I've seen of him (so far). He deserved the Oscar for Capote, he was such a powerhouse in Doubt, funny and touching/tragic at the same time in Flawless, even though the film itself wasn't.
I even loved him in Charlie Wilson's War or The Boat that rocked. And my own little favorite: his voice work as Max in the wonderful bittersweet Mary&Max.If you have not seen this great stop motion animated film, please do it now!
RIP PSH and thanks for all the great roles you've played.