There’s so much Philip Seymour Hoffman information coming out now, and almost all of it is incredibly sad. It feels unseemly to focus so much on the details about how PSH was found and what kind of heroin he was using, especially in the face of what his family must be going through now. We know now that Philip had plans with his kids on the day that he died – he was going to watch the SuperBowl with his son. We also know that Philip relapsed hard after he went into rehab last year, and Page Six has a lengthy piece about PSH’s last weeks. Their sources say his partner, Mimi O’Donnell, had kicked him out of their apartment in an attempt of “tough love” to try to get him to stop using. The apartment he died in was the apartment he rented after Mimi kicked him out.
Yesterday, some family friends stopped by Mimi’s apartment to check on her and the kids. Cate Blanchett brought three bags of toys from FAO Schwarz and Justin Theroux – who was reportedly very close to PSH – also stopped by Mimi’s apartment to check on her. Witnesses also say that a pastor has come by for some grief-counseling.
I’d also like to thank the people who offered me virtual hugs too – it’s true, I was in love with PSH for many years, more than a decade. He was a brilliant, amazing talent and I thought he was sexy as hell too. There are so many incredible performances to enjoy and cry over (I watched Charlie Wilson’s War for the millionth time right after I heard about PSH’s death), but one favorite that most people agree on is his incredible turn as Lester Bangs in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. PSH’s Bangs is funny, tragic, smart and very, very uncool.
Cameron wrote about PSH’s Lester Bangs and that famous “I’m uncool” scene on his blog:
My original take on this scene was a loud, late night pronouncement from Lester Bangs. A call to arms. In Phil’s hands it became something different. A scene about quiet truths shared between two guys, both at the crossroads, both hurting, and both up too late. It became the soul of the movie. In between takes, Hoffman spoke to no one. He listened only to his headset, only to the words of Lester himself. (His Walkman was filled with rare Lester interviews.) When the scene was over, I realized that Hoffman had pulled off a magic trick. He’d leapt over the words and the script, and gone hunting for the soul and compassion of the private Lester, the one only a few of us had ever met. Suddenly the portrait was complete. The crew and I will always be grateful for that front row seat to his genius.
[From Cameron Crowe’s The Uncool]
God. This whole thing just makes me want to curl up and cry for a month.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Everything about this is just so sad.
And shocking. It’s like Cory monteith all over again but WORSE. He had so much to give and was one of the greatest. Damn! I can’t believe he’s dead.
I had the same shock when I turned the tv on and saw the news about Heath Ledger. I just sat there staring at the screen for a good 15-20 minutes.
My heart goes out to his family. Very sad.
@ Ag. Mine too
+1
I’m just so sad for his children and the art that will never be.
He was an amazing actor. Has anyone seen Love, Liza? It is one if the most depressing, sad movies I’ve ever seen and so well executed. His portrayal, or experience, as an addict is haunting.
Love Liza is such a great movie and PSH gave an amazingly touching performance in it. I still find it so sad that he is gone. Leave his family and his grieving friends alone!
NPR has a great tribute in his honor, well worth listening to
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/03/270954011/philip-seymour-hoffman-on-acting-an-exhausting-and-satisfying-art
I hope that Mimi O’Donnell doesn’t blame herself. Maybe PSH took on too much after his last rehab. It seems like he was juggling more projects than a healthy human could handle, never mind an addict who had just recently relapsed. I hope his family finds peace. Toys will not fill the gapping holes in their hearts, it’s almost a strange notion to do that, although I guess it was done with good intentions.
I can’t pick a favorite PSH film because he was good in all of them. No, he was excellent.
It’s not uncommon to give children toys during times like this. It’s suppose to be a nice distraction and depending on the age of the kids they aren’t fully capable of understanding what’s occuring I think he has a 4/5 year old.
Oh, they are really little.
His kids are apparently 11, 7, and 5. Sadly a hug and some toys are about the best one could do right now. Heartbreaking.
Young children live in the physical world, so something that they can cuddle or keep busy with may be of great comfort to them. Cate has three young children of her own — so I’m sure she didn’t just bring those toys for show.
My father passed last year when my son was 5. We knew that he was terminally ill, and I had been slowly preparing my son for the idea that his beloved “Papa” wasn’t going to get better. However, my father’s death came faster than we expected (blessedly for him), so I had to deliver the news before I was fully able to prepare my son for his grandfather’s death. When he’s feeling sad about his loss, he still snuggles that stuffed animal that I gave him when I had to tell him, and likes to put the hat that he inherited from his grandfather on it.
Agree. I was trying to pick a favorite performance but all of his are so, so good. so sad.
I thought the toys were incredibly sweet. The two girls are younger and they don’t necessarily grieve the same way adults do so I’m sure the toys were a welcome distraction.
And I give Mini huge props for asking PSH to leave after he relapsed. That is an incredibly HARD yet courageous thing to do to a love one, but it comes from a place of great love.
It’s just so sad. I look at him and he had everything to live for – but it just shows what a beast addiction is. Such a horrible devastating disease.
She might feel to blame, but she did what she felt was right. A lot of the time, they recommend cutting off an addict so that they might hit rock bottom and decide they need help. Unfortunately, he passed before that point of finding help. 😔
So terribly sad. My heart breaks for his family, especially his partner & their young children.
He was such a great talent. I don’t think I ever called him out as one of my favorite actors, but fact is, you remember all of his roles (even as supporting actor). He just delivers every time.
Such a great loss. RIP PSH
Makes me have a twinge of like for Justin Theroux.
Like everyone else, I was shocked when I heard the sad news. It’s amazing to me how many people are reacting to his death as if it was someone they actually knew. I guess that just shows you how great of an actor he was. Huge loss for the universe.
Sorry but I don’t. I care more for his family and friends ( non showbiz friends). I wonder what Meryl Streep is thinking, Paul Thomas Anderson, Amy Adams etc. As far as I know they has real close relationships with PSH. Just because we don’t see other people coming in and out of his apartment doesn’t mean they don’t care and aren’t doing everything they can do help his family.
I hate to say it but I think this seems quite ego stroking and obnoxious of Justin Theroux. I feel like he wants to be seen as PHS greatest friend, the one who is solving everything and because of who he’s dating he knows cameras will be focused on him and he will get attention. Couldn’t he have gone through a private way? I remember what Daniel Day Lewis said during Heath Ledgers death that people should just leave his family and friends alone. Don’t keep making statements or public spectacles.
They live in a townhome. There is no private way in unless you fly a helicopter into their backyard.
They were actually friends outside of showbiz.http://www.justjared.com/2012/08/23/justin-theroux-lunch-with-philip-seymour-hoffman/
I’ve thought of his role in almost famous a lot in the last two days. I didn’t realize he put so much into it that was him instead of the director.
This story brings tears to my eyes. What a loss.
I read Theroux has been sober for a decade
My favorite PSH movie is The Savages, with Laura Linney. They’re siblings trying to figure out what to do with their aging father who’s showing signs of dementia. As a caregiver for my mom and dad, it really resonated when I saw it. Now I want to see it again. He will be missed.
That movie is amazing, I agree
I feel so badly for his family and friends, especially Mimi and the kids. The situation must have been difficult enough for all of them when he relapsed, and now to lose him this way, it’s just so sad.
Bless PSH’s heart.
I feel so sorry for his family, and the way that the media is handling this is disrespectful and disappointing to say the least. PSH was very private and I’m sure he would hate all of this attention.
I know….I’m trying to avoid looking at articles (what I know is what I’ve read on here), but come on, media. Have SOME respect for the dead. For the man’s family. I avoided the Dailymail, after they had pictures of PSH in a body bag outside his apartment. Seriously? I didn’t need to see that, and that’s not something that needs to be on the internet either–the man has kids and a partner. That’s not something I would want circulating, for my kids to see.
I’ve been thinking about him since I found out he died–it’s that sad for me, and I didn’t even know him. I hope his partner doesn’t feel like it’s her fault. I feel really bad for her.
I agree there is really no need to post these very disrespectful and intrusive pictures. His family and his friends already suffer a lot.
I can’t imagine the helplessness and despair that Mimi must have felt as she watched her SO succumb to such an insidious disease. Kicking him out had to be beyond unbearable. She sounds like a strong lady, which is a good thing as she will need major reserves of strength to get through this. Heavy sigh.
He was so beautiful in Magnolia. Years ago after a move, and before we had a chance to get the cable turned on……..all I had was a box of VHS movies to watch. I must have watched it a hundred times. He was so lovely in it.
his scenes with jason robards jr in that film are heartbreaking.
So very, very tragic.
I was surprised to find that he was only a year older than me. He seemed like such an old soul. A friend of mine also died of an overdose on the same weekend and I found out about PSH’s death at the same time. My friends and I are still heartbroken and reeling from shock. This makes me feel even more for Phillips loved ones left behind. PSH was an enormous talent and I loved to watch him act. He will be truly missed.
An old friend of mine also died from a “hot dose” last week after being sober for over a decade. Heroin is so f*cked. Sorry for your loss.
Cate Blanchett LOST HER father at 10
My father died when I was young, and after he did, my mother had it tough. Very tough.
‘It was very important to her that all of her children had a good education, and so she went out to work and stretched the money she had and put herself into debt to pay for that.’
Cate’s earliest memory is of seeing her 32-year-old father in bed, recovering from a heart attack when she was 18 months old. He died eight years later.
‘Cate was one of those amazing students but she also had a very strong nurturing side. Her older brother Bobby was intellectually extremely clever, but he had some minor physical disability that meant he had to ride a three-wheeler bike around the neighbourhood.
‘One day when he came into our school, some children said something unkind in the playground.
‘Cate immediately asserted authority and gave a speech to the other children saying that Bobby was her brother and he was going to be there, with her, whether they liked it or not, and they should accept him for who he is.
‘It was like an adult talking. It stopped the other children in their tracks. It was as if she was acting like a mother.’
Cate admits that the uncertainty of her early childhood followed by the loss of her father at such an early age left her unusually self-reliant.
‘My mother went out to work [as a teacher and property developer], which not all mothers did in those days,’ she has said. ‘But I was always very inspired by the fact that she had a job outside the house and by the stimulation that she brought back into it.’
I’ve loved PSH for a long time too, and this is really heart wrenching. I haven’t been this hurt by a celebrity passing ever. Hold strong, Kaiser.
I also want to say that I appreciate the less sensational reporting on his passing than say, TMZ is doing. I don’t need to hear about what he was going through during his relapse, I don’t want to know how he physically seemed. It seems disrespectful and makes me even more sad. So thank you for not spreading that news.
Just devastating. He was such an enormous talent but had struggled with addiction for so so long. My heart aches for his partner and kids. He clearly loved and adored his children by all accounts of those who knew him. This tells you how strong, all encompassing and powerful addiction is–if it can tear you from your kids.
I LOVED him as Lester Bangs and watched the “Uncool” scene over and over the last couple days. SO SO brilliant. His Loman in “Death of a Salesman” was the gold standard in theater for so so many.
Sad for his family above all- obviously but for all of us too…we will be deprived of the performances that will never happen.
Yep, this one stings. He was the guy who would go on to win more Oscars and have a career that spans 50 years. The man was so private, we only saw him for promotions. The way he spoke of his addiction last year was so elegant that I thought that he would find a way to come out of it stronger. Addictions are a bitch.
I honestly forgot that he was in “Almost Famous”, I have not seen that movie in so long. Wow you could make a PSH movie watching week of great films from of his IMDB.