The start of February marks a decade since the entertainment world lost Philip Seymour Hoffman, an actor who kept a low profile behind the scenes but had the bold screen presence to attract all the eyeballs towards him in a scene.
Across his incredibly prolific career, Hoffman earned four Oscar nominations and took the much sought-after award home in 2006 for brilliantly leading biographical drama Capote. However, his most talked about role is in Hunger Games franchise where he played Plutarch Heavensbee. His stint in the franchise intrigues fans to this day for more than one reason.
How Hunger Games Is Linked to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death
Philip Seymour Hoffman first portrayed Plutarch Heavensbee, a Head Gamemaker, in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013). During this period, Hoffman, who struggled with addiction in his youth, relapsed after managing to remain sober for more than two decades.
In 2017, his longtime partner Mimi O’Donnell wrote an essay for Vogue, wherein she recalled how the actor’s addiction problems escalated. What began as casual drinking turned into heroin usage. In the fall of 2013, Hoffman tried rehab and when he left, he managed to stay sober for three months.
However, in January of 2014, he started isolating himself. At the time, he was filming a Hunger Games film in Atlanta. The couple decided he would go back to rehab as soon as the movie wrapped.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Hoffman died of combined drug intoxication in February 2014. During this time, he was filming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. O’Donnell wrote:
“It happened so quickly. Phil came home from Atlanta, and I called a few people and said that we needed to keep an eye on him. Then he started using again, and three days later he was dead.”
A Most Wanted Man proved to be his last completed movie. He also managed to shoot the majority of his scenes in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2; his remaining scenes were rewritten before the film’s release in November 2015.
As per IMDb, the scene where Haymitch Abernathy reads Plutarch’s letter to Katniss Everdeen was originally envisioned to be Plutarch talking to Jennifer Lawrence‘s character in person. After his demise, it was altered.
How Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Family Dealt With His Passing
The costume designer, who met the Boogie Nights star in the spring of 1999, also wrote about how she and their three kids dealt with the insurmountable loss, revealing they still talk about him constantly.
She added that talking about every aspect of his personality and life brings them together.
“We talk about his bad sides and his good sides, what he did that was funny and what he did that was crazy, and what he did that was loving and tender and sweet,” O’Donnell admitted. “We open up, and it brings us together and keeps his spirit alive.”
In recent times, she has served as executive producer in several television series, including The Horror of Dolores Roach. Meanwhile, their only son, Cooper Hoffman, 20, recently featured in Wildcat opposite Maya Hawke.
