I don't go around announcing someone's passing like some gossip newspaper columnist. But this afternoon, when I heard Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead in his New York apartment, possibly by heroin overdose, I can't help but great sadness overtaking me. It's not that he was my favorite actors of all time or anything, but he was one of those actors who were always solid and watchable on screen. I remember him playing bit parts in Hollywood movies, then being typecast in indie films as 'that creepy fat guy'. He was not your typical handsome movie star. But his talent was too enormous, too great for people to ignore.
Most memorable character he played, for me, was in Charlie Kaufman's magnum opus, Synecdoche, New York, as a long suffering writer, beaten down by life, ambition and carrying the burden of having a creative mind. He used his physicality and awkwardness fully in the biopic Capote, garnering much deserved recognition and fame. He also shined as a larger than life but ultimately emperor with no clothes in PT Anderson's The Master, the slight play on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. I'll watch Mission Impossible III tonight, just because he was in it (I've heard he is good in it, as usual). RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman, I'll miss you.
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