Writer-director Cameron Crowe posted a touching tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman on Monday, a day after the actor was found dead in his West Village apartment.
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On his blog The Uncool, the filmmaker — who directed Hoffman in 2000’s Almost Famous — gave credit to the actor for helping shape one of the movie’s key scenes.
In the movie, Hoffman played legendary music critic Lester Bangs. Crowe explained that in one scene, he had envisioned a “loud, late-night pronouncement from Lester Bangs” but explained that Hoffman had a different take, making it something else altogether.
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Read his full post below:
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.
Watch the scene below.
Hoffman was found dead Sunday at age 46. Police found the actor dead on the floor of the bathroom in the apartment with a needle sticking out of his left arm and envelopes allegedly containing heroin nearby.
A friend of Hoffman’s called 911 at 11:30 a.m. after the actor didn’t show up to pick up his kids.
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According to reports, close to 50 envelopes of heroin were found in Hoffman’s apartment, as were several used and unused syringes and prescription drugs, the New York Police Department told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday.
The actor attended Sundance last month and was seen in the festival entries God’s Pocket, directed by Mad Men’s John Slattery, and A Most Wanted Man, a spy thriller that also stars Rachel McAdams.
