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RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman
It’s odd to feel such deep loss over the death of someone you never personally knew. But my heart is breaking. I’ve loved Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work since the beginning of his prolific career. I’d see anything he was in and it was always worth it. My favorite quote about his extraordinary talent is from Mike Nichols after directing him in Death of a Salesman, “Again and again, he can truly become someone I’ve not seen before but can still instantly recognize…” I can’t help wondering, does greatness come at a price?
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Couldn’t agree more. Feel zapped of part of our generation’s life force. Love the Mike Nichols quote. It moves close to finding words for something we felt that seemingly was about his talent and the man.
I had lunch with a friend today, and we spent a lot of our time together talking about him. It’s so hard to fathom.
I’m with you Wendy. I was shocked and saddened about the news. I never did see him in Death of a Salesman, but he did an interview on NPR a few years ago about his portrayal of Willy Loman, and this quote at the end of the interview really struck me:
“And, you know, also just to be loved, I think, is, like, the thing that gets you up in the morning. And ultimately, I mean, if we wanted to say what the play’s about, you know, wanting to be loved.”
People are really just people in end…
From what I’ve read today, it sounds like he knew he was trouble. So tragic.
Let me first start by telling you that I am not a movie person. I rarely go to see them in theatres. In fact, most of my (limited) movie viewing is either Netflix (while I’m on the rowing machine) or DVD rentals. That said, I have seen several of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s films and I was struck by how good he was.
I got the NY Times news alert on my phone and, expecting some silly Super Bowl-related “breaking story”, was completely stunned to learn of Hoffman’s death. I was in disbelief. Too large a talent to be gone so soon. I am saddened.
Interesting point you raise about the price of greatness. I’ve wondered about this–is there a subset of people for whom the expression of their creative gifts requires the ability (or even necessity?) to find one’s dark places? Those dark places are uncomfortable, painful, soul-gripping and the temptation of a respite (in drugs, alcohol, food, etc.) must be tremendous. No, I certainly don’t believe all creative geniuses are like that (think Meryl Streep), but probably some.
My heart is really sad about this.
Good point about Meryl Streep. She always seems to be grounded with a solid family life beyond acting. But it’s impossible to know what lurks behind the glamour.