Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman

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Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman

By The GOP is a Terrorist Organization

Art • February 2014 • Views: 1,571

Chris Hayes and David Eddelstein talk about the life and work of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

A must see.

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5 comments

HappyWarrior Wed, Feb 5, 2014 1:05:17pm

He was one of my favorite actors because of his versatility. I first really noticed him in Capote and then I saw him in Doubt, Charlie Wilson’s War, Pirate Radio, and countless others and one could never say that Mr. Hoffman was guilty of playing himself on screen. He had a great gift for acting. The world of film will be a sad place without him.

thecommodore Wed, Feb 5, 2014 1:20:33pm

re: #1 HappyWarrior

one could never say that Mr. Hoffman was guilty of playing himself on screen.

I would disagree with that, in that any character played well draws on elements of that character the actor playing him or her already has. Whether you’re playing Ghandi, Mother Theresa, or Hitler, or anyone in between, there are aspects of the person you are playing that the writer has given them that you already have yourself. Martin Sheen spoke of this very thing in the documentary Hearts of Darkness, a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, when he was talking about the difficulty he had in playing Willard. He even told Coppola, “I don’t know this guy. I don’t know who he is,’ to which Coppola replied (in so many words), “Sure you do. That guy is you. Any guy you play is you.” So any time you see an actor doing work that is knocking you out, know that you’re seeing a true element of who that actor is in real life, even though the circumstances in the movie are make believe. The truly great actors are the ones who are willing and able to go there, and Mr. Hoffman was definitely in that group.

HappyWarrior Wed, Feb 5, 2014 1:30:32pm

re: #2 thecommodore

I would disagree with that, in that any character played well draws on elements of that character the actor playing him or her already has. Whether you’re playing Ghandi, Mother Theresa, or Hitler, or anyone in between, there are aspects of the person you are playing that the writer has given them that you already have yourself. Martin Sheen spoke of this very thing in the documentary Hearts of Darkness, a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, when he was talking about the difficulty he had in playing Willard. He even told Coppola, “I don’t know this guy. I don’t know who he is,’ to which Coppola replied (in so many words), “Sure you do. That guy is you. Any guy you play is you.” So any time you see an actor doing work that is knocking you out, know that you’re seeing a true element of who that actor is in real life, even though the circumstances in the movie are make believe. The truly great actors are the ones who are willing and able to go there, and Mr. Hoffman was definitely in that group.

Ah good point. What I mean though is he had some great versatility. If I didn’t know better I would have never guessed that Truman Capote in Capote and the CIA agent in Charlie Wilson were the same guy. Anyhow, it really sucks that the guy is gone. This one kind of hit me personally since Hoffman struggled with alcoholism and heroin like one of my uncles who died in a similar fashion did.

thecommodore Wed, Feb 5, 2014 1:37:06pm

Yeah, and the details that are starting to trickle out about his final hours are really disturbing (all the heroin the police found in his apartment, etc). I fear we are going to find out some really unsavory things in the days ahead.

I miss him too. The world will miss him as well.