RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman
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While I respect your opinion. Your statement is false. He fell off the wagon less then a year ago. The mind of an opiate addict is not something that is a recognized as a real disease like cancer, but it is real disease none the less. I wish you non-addicts would quit judging what you will never know.
Just another in a long list of rich Hollywood (New York) actors who chose to die from drugs. I enjoyed his "work" but I shed no tears.
WTF! You brought how he died and now you want to close the thread. A celebrity goes on a drug bender and dies with a needle in his arm surrounded by empty bindles and you want to talk about his work? I'm surprised TMZ doesn't have the photo's up yet. 8O
Phillip Seymour Hoffman was one of the most versatile actors in film today. His contribution to the film industry will be sorely missed.
I may get flamed for writing my thoughts, but so be it...
I work with actors every day in the process of shooting TV shows and movies. I know there are a lot of people who resent the money and the treatment that actors, or perhaps I should say "stars," can garner. We, as a society, love to put them on pedestals and then alternately knock 'em down. Look, life seems unfair to a lot of people, and the inequality of earnings that many stars make compared to the average person can spark ire to those of us who aren't so lucky in the earnings department.
Although I have worked with a couple of jerks throughout the years, by far most have been professional, talented and yes, somewhat lucky, people. Lucky to get the break when so many others strive for a career in acting and barely get by waiting tables and working at other odd jobs that accommodate the endless casting calls and countless rejections that are a part of it.
Regardless of how one dies, is it not a tragedy when any person's life is cut short? Whether it is by accident, suicide, or drug overdose? Surely we aren't so jaded and cold hearted as to laugh or look down our noses feeling superior and smug at another's misfortune, even if they made bad choices that led them to their demise? I am not suggesting that anyone here has done that, but we seem to be treading close in this thread.
A young actor on a show I was shooting last year committed suicide towards the end of the season of filming. Why? Who knows. He seemed to have everything going for him. He was a TV star, a very good looking young man, was in good physical health, a super nice guy and should have had a long promising career ahead of him. Clearly he was secretly battling some kind of depression, and probable mental illness.
I was shocked at the time to read the occasional callous comment from someone in the general public regarding his death.
If you are tempted to look down on someone like Phillip Seymour Hoffman because he died while apparently overdosing on heroin, try imagining him as a relative. Perhaps your brother or son. Just because he was a celebrity, that does not change the fact that he was a person, and he was someone's son, and also someone's father and someone's significant other.
I am saddened by his death, as I would be to hear of anyone's death. I didn't know him personally, but I do think he was a very talented actor, and I enjoyed seeing him in the many roles he had the opportunity to play in his career now cut short.
I work with actors every day in the process of shooting TV shows and movies. I know there are a lot of people who resent the money and the treatment that actors, or perhaps I should say "stars," can garner. We, as a society, love to put them on pedestals and then alternately knock 'em down. Look, life seems unfair to a lot of people, and the inequality of earnings that many stars make compared to the average person can spark ire to those of us who aren't so lucky in the earnings department.
Although I have worked with a couple of jerks throughout the years, by far most have been professional, talented and yes, somewhat lucky, people. Lucky to get the break when so many others strive for a career in acting and barely get by waiting tables and working at other odd jobs that accommodate the endless casting calls and countless rejections that are a part of it.
Regardless of how one dies, is it not a tragedy when any person's life is cut short? Whether it is by accident, suicide, or drug overdose? Surely we aren't so jaded and cold hearted as to laugh or look down our noses feeling superior and smug at another's misfortune, even if they made bad choices that led them to their demise? I am not suggesting that anyone here has done that, but we seem to be treading close in this thread.
A young actor on a show I was shooting last year committed suicide towards the end of the season of filming. Why? Who knows. He seemed to have everything going for him. He was a TV star, a very good looking young man, was in good physical health, a super nice guy and should have had a long promising career ahead of him. Clearly he was secretly battling some kind of depression, and probable mental illness.
I was shocked at the time to read the occasional callous comment from someone in the general public regarding his death.
If you are tempted to look down on someone like Phillip Seymour Hoffman because he died while apparently overdosing on heroin, try imagining him as a relative. Perhaps your brother or son. Just because he was a celebrity, that does not change the fact that he was a person, and he was someone's son, and also someone's father and someone's significant other.
I am saddened by his death, as I would be to hear of anyone's death. I didn't know him personally, but I do think he was a very talented actor, and I enjoyed seeing him in the many roles he had the opportunity to play in his career now cut short.
I concur with you houndstooth,a human being,son,friend,father,you put in words my feelings,no good comes in gloating on such a sad occasion.
I have 37 years of experience working in both films and TV, on features, series, you name it. I've also served a stint in studio management. The business likes to promote its glamorous aspects because that's what brings in the money, but it's mostly a high pressure production environment with zero security and a lot of demand and expectation. I've seen people with vulnerabilities get completely ground up by it.
Thank you Houndstooth for bringing a thoughtful, knowledgeable, and humane direction to this thread.
Thank you Houndstooth for bringing a thoughtful, knowledgeable, and humane direction to this thread.
What houndstooth said.
I thought PSH was a brilliant actor, who starred or supported in some of my favorite movies of the last 20 years. I mean, compare him in Twister and State & Main and Capote! His range was amazing.
Sad he's gone. Disappointed that he, for whatever reason, wasn't able to get the help he needed to stay healthy. And I'm a little angry that he will never know just how many lives he's touched and just how many fans will mourn his loss.
Bob
I thought PSH was a brilliant actor, who starred or supported in some of my favorite movies of the last 20 years. I mean, compare him in Twister and State & Main and Capote! His range was amazing.
Sad he's gone. Disappointed that he, for whatever reason, wasn't able to get the help he needed to stay healthy. And I'm a little angry that he will never know just how many lives he's touched and just how many fans will mourn his loss.
Bob
Hoffman certainly was a very gifted and most interesting actor, but a loss like his does raise interesting questions that seem to have a wider reach. Everyday we are at the ready to judge people around us for their weaknesses or inclinations, but if they have more social significance than a neighbor or passer-by our understanding and forgiveness seem to come much easier. The examples from both music and movies are ready at hand, all of them generally considered with a great deal of compassion. On the other hand, there are also many examples in politics and there our degree of understanding seems to be a little more uncertain. We laugh at Stalin's predelection for chewing up Dunhill's, ridicule Hitler's use of amfetamines and whatever else he took, but even Churchill's reported daily ration of two bottles of port or JFK's drug abuse meets with far less understanding and forgiveness than say Bob Marley's smoking habits or Kurt Cobain's and if you happen to be the mayor of a decent-sized U.S. city, you'd better not be partial to a bit of crack... Or, in other words: if we are ready to accept that an actor or musician can give us his best performances while addicted to whatever. why don't we believe a politician can do the same? I don't have a ready answer, I just wonder...
He was definitely one of the best actors of this era and will greatly be missed by his family and friends not to mention fans of his work.
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