Death In Entertainment

Episode 70 - Philip Seymour Hoffman: The Actor's Struggle

February 22, 2023 DIEPOD STUDIOS
Death In Entertainment
Episode 70 - Philip Seymour Hoffman: The Actor's Struggle
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Few actors are as fun to watch as Philip Seymour Hoffman. He could play anything and go anywhere: Comedy - Drama - Arthouse - Blockbuster. A true actor's actor with rare mass appeal. Over the course of his career, he gave us an amazing array of unforgettable characters. From the vulnerable to the charismatic to the downright disturbed. 

Unfortunately, Hoffman’s remarkable life and career would come to an abrupt end on Superbowl Sunday 2014 due to drug intoxication. Few people knew the extent of his inner struggles and, by the end, he was too far gone to be saved. The same intensity that made him a great actor, also fed his demons as an addict. 

In this episode, the guys pore over his impressive filmography, from The Big Lebowski to 25th Hour. They're big fans -- but then again, who isn't?  They also discuss the inner turmoil that boiled beneath the surface and detail what went down in his lonely, final days. All that and much, much more (expect some Al Pacino and Truman Capote impressions)! 

Cheers to Chaos: Reality TV & Cocktails
Join hosts Will and Marisa as they dive into the most entertaining moments from reality TV

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Death in Entertainment is hosted by Kyle Ploof and Alejandro Dowling

New episodes every Wednesday!

https://linktr.ee/deathinentertainment

Few actors are as fun to watch as Philip Seymour Hoffman. Over the course of his career, he gave us an amazing array of unforgettable characters from the vulnerable Idiot! To the charismatic. Thank you. To the downright disturbed. Go fuck yourself your fucking child! Unfortunately, Hoffman's remarkable life and career would come to an abrupt end on Super Bowl Sunday 2014. Few people knew the extent of his inner struggles, and by the end, he was too far gone to be saved. Hear the full story today on Death in Entertainment! Live from Los Angeles. 911. What is your emergency? Here in Hollywood now. 2 counts of murder, injury and death! Oh my God! Shocking new details that has stunned the entertainment world. Um, This makes me a little nervous. The hair stood up on my arms. Just like in the movies. What do you call this thing anyway? Death in entertainment! And hello to everybody out there. We came back. Welcome back another week. Look who it is. It's us motherfuckers get ready dedos Yeah, because we are going into it this week with a legendary story about Philip Seymour Hoffman. My name is Kyle Ploof. My name is Mark Mulkerron and I'm Alejandro Dowling. And yeah, this is a this is a heavy one. Yeah, very, very sad moment and acting in Broadway history here. So get ready everybody gets some tissues. Get ready to laugh a little bit and we are heading to February 2, 2014. All right, February 2 2014 Mark What is going on in the world of the pop culture? Oh Kyle I'm so glad you asked right now which is you know my wheelhouse here is on Broadway let's find out what's what's hot on Broadway right now. What's hot what's not well let's feed Philip Seymour Hoffman so it's very important we talk about Broadway here of course because he was like the king of Broadway during his time. This show called Beautiful The Carole King musical which is pretty pretty self explanatory. I don't think that song is involved a few songs she did not right yeah, probably you're so vain would be a big one now that's the one that people say is about Nixon that was saying by Carol Carly Simon oh that's mine new songs that have nothing to do with let me get another tank now just kidding. You on the poster there it says what the postman Natural Woman the local does that make up for my Carly Simon Yeah, yeah. Do the Lau that's a big one. Yeah, that's a big one imagine those royalties be nice I can smell the money from here yeah, that's always good though. We need like your you know, songs live on on everyone goes to Broadway now. Like I swear they're gonna bring like, you know, Mortal Kombat to Broadway or something. It's just like it's where you go to bring your IP did squeeze more money out of my race itself gonna go to Broadway now? Oh, yeah. Fox News. The musical. Shawn had got filled the musical or whatever. It's like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Yeah, they will turn everything into a show and only a few of them become successful. Well, we've talked about waitress Yeah, that that became profitable, but it still got canceled or something but it's one of the lucky ones and who word and yeah that made a lot of money thus far they're definitely in the black on that one but the Spider Man one but like you know it killed like five people. Yeah, that did not go forward. Yeah, Bondo on the edge. We're seeing running out the back. They're running to the one from the Ukraine after they're running towards the ward. Gotta go to Sarajevo. Yeah. It's more safe than this. was so traumatic. They want to collaborate with Ben Affleck now. Yeah. And do something horrible. Yeah. Do a Dunkin Donuts commercial. Maybe. Next up outside. Bowling gar Outside Mullingar, would you call it stars? Debra Messing as an eccentric Irish woman, which is what we all wanted our entire lives. Written by John Patrick Shanley, which actually made a lot of sense because he also wrote the movie with Philip Seymour Hoffman as a priest doubt doubt Yeah, he wrote out so it all comes full circle that shanlee reminds me actually of one of the priests that got busted. In Boston, you don't remember Her father Paul Shamli. He was one of the big Oh, they said last name. They did they related? i They could be actually I don't know. I don't want to know but that but he was involved in like what became the what was the movie about the prison Boston mistake spotlight spotlight he was involved heavily involved in the spotlight one and yeah, Paul Richard Shanley was an American Roman Catholic priest who became the center of a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts, which is, you know, he didn't, he didn't fare so well in prison. This writer is probably super happy. We're bringing this up, of course, as a column third one here is a time to kill which recently closed actually which is based on I assume the popular Matthew magani movie, as well as the book by John Grisham. John Grisham recently closed at that time at that time, how long dead? was gonna say that's still going? Yeah, it was a musical. Yeah, I hope they burn it. Burn it. Yeah. I don't know if it's like bringing the funk brand. And that's just like a collaboration with stomp. Yes. Top Collabro Lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice. Yeah, exactly. Savion Glover. Well, Kyle, let what's going on at the movies at this time? Since we just talked about one? Yes, I will tell you what was going on. Could you believe it at the movies? Number two at the box office. You see it here? Frozen 11 weeks in the box office at this point, and they're still number two, which is you know, impressive. You couldn't make that movie today. I don't know. too white. too. Too cold. Yeah, it's very divisive. Oh, what was that song? Let it go. Let it go. Yeah, by Adele Dazeem Idina Menzel as John Travolta pronounced it. Oh, yeah. We, we all know, frozen wasn't actually meant to be seen anyway. They just made it to distract from the fact that people were googling Walt Disney Frozen. Is that true? Oh, yeah. That movie comes up when they Google those words together. Hey, you know, number one at the box office. Right along with ice cube and Kevin Hart. Really? The classic that everyone loves and remembers. Yes, it is in its third week and still at number one, which is I've never seen this movie. Yeah, I haven't either. I have a friend who was in ride along to. Not the first one though. This week. Well couldn't make the first one. No, no, because there was so action star packed. In so many laughs on TV in the world of sports Super Bowl 48. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43 to eight. That's not even a close game. Though. The first snap of the game was over Peyton Manning's head and they got to safety. This took place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which is the Meadowlands it's home to the Giants and the Jets. Yes, the Giants and the Jets play in New Jersey even though they're called the New York Giants in New York Jets. And it's the first cold city Super Bowl. The Meadowlands I fell down going up in escalator there cuz I was so drunk. Wow. Yeah. And it wouldn't be the last cold Super Bowl because in 2018 it took place in Minneapolis. That's correct. Yeah. Great stadium went there this year. Really go with that. That was you? That was me. Congratulations. Yeah. So there we have it. That is the pop culture flash. We are caught up. Yeah. And with that with that, why don't we get started dive in baby. Philip Hoffman was born July 23 1967 In Fairport, and that's a suburb of Rochester, New York. Well, you gotta say yeah, New York because I think there's a Fairport Connecticut also. There. Yeah. There's a lot of ports over there. Yeah. Is that like Springfield, where there's a ton of different versions? Yeah, true. Yeah. And apparently Rochester is the optical cat capital of the United States. That sounds weird because Xerox was there. Oh yeah. Kodak, and the cinema scope lens was invented there. Oh, wow. Well Boston had Polaroid so we used to like that the end codec. I guess Kodak is Rochester right? Yeah. So Pottstown Polaroid so we'd like to think we had a little bit of rivalry. Rivalry, nobody was very one sided. Kodachrome, baby. Yeah. A very outdated version of pictures and yeah, they're actually got to basically out of business. Yeah, Bostonians. Were just looking for a reason to fight. I think Rochester won in the end. Yeah, we were the drunken people at the after the bar. That threw some bad haymakers and we lost. Yeah, Rochester is like, whoa, you don't have to swing at me. I don't even care that you have polar. Alright, I got I got five feet on you, buddy. And your breath smells? Yeah. Good. Addy. Phillips dad worked at Xerox. Oh, he was a company man. Oh, wow. And his mom was an elementary school teacher. That seems like a solid family though. Yeah, well, for now. Okay. Well, she later became a family court judge by the way. That can be bad, though. That can be disastrous. If you divorce a woman who's a family court judge? Like you're, you're screwed. Yeah. Kill yourself. Well, of course before that, though, when Philip was nine, okay. And he was raised primarily by his mom, whose name is Marilyn O'Connor. Oh, kind of O'Connor. We can't have you. I can't have you. So we got another dad. That's out of the picture. Papa was Rolling Stone, I guess. Yeah. Like little Pete. But he worked at Xerox. He's not like a rock and roll dad. He's a Xerox man. But yeah, I'll be at least Mr. C, my dad ran off with a rock band. That's kind of cool. Yeah. But if he works at zero, just to go get beers at the Chili's with coworkers. Eight hours a day. That's depressing. Yeah. He brings his new girlfriend to TGI Friday. Yeah. See him across the room. Oh, god. Yeah. My dad. Wow. He's my Long Island Iced Teas for the room. So Phil and his mom were very close. They went to plays together. They watched sports together and seen a production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons changed his life. So the mom kind of probably didn't get another guy and was kind of lonely and just her and her son just hung out and you know, went to went into the city a lot. Yeah, it seems like into the optical capital of the United States. Well, I am sure they went to down in New York. Yeah. So yeah, way Rochester didn't have the hottest plays. I'm assuming no. And Phil was the second of four kids, by the way. Wow. Always by her. Wow. Remarkable, busy house. Yeah. All while being a judge. Not yet. That was later. The judge. He goes on the judge. Phil went to Fairport High School. He was very popular as you could probably guess. Sure. And he was a sports guy into wrestling football and baseball. However, there was a serious neck injury when he was 14. so serious that if he had continued it could have been paralysis. So he was like, like the JENNIFER GRAY steroid. I don't know if you remember that. But she was basically almost lost her head. Like she was like, like her. Most of her head like her spinal cord was like chopped off. But she was still living somehow. Her doctor told her Her doctor said if you got in a bad car accident your head would get severed off this JENNIFER GRAY yeah Jennifer Great. Yeah, because of the whiplash Yeah, with the Chiron Yeah, you can be like living in like you're you're almost decapitated, basically. Yeah, I don't I don't understand it. But yeah, he wasn't that bad. Not that it was bad enough that he's quit sports. And he pivoted to drugs, theater. Oh, theater. That's better. That's later that's more positive. Legend has it that he had a crush on one of the girls in the school play. And that's why he joined so much of like, endeavors in the arts is just trying to get some cheer. Let's try to get later paid. Try to get some crib. Theater guys say all that. He starred in a play at the age of 16 after A few minor roles. And you know what this play was? What grease Death of a Salesman? He played Willy Loman Arthur Miller strikes again. Is that the dad you had as the main character? Wow, that's a big role for someone that age the downtrodden. Yeah. Sales very sad roll for someone like that at the end of his life. Yeah, live is row and of his robe salesman. Yeah, it's been laid off who's like pretending to go to work and stuff? Yeah. And people couldn't believe this kid could pull off that role. Yeah, he was like out the gate. He was like a natural. Yeah, they're like, Who is this guy? Yeah, doing a convincing Willy Loman at 816. Yeah, that's insane. That's like, wherever you are. Find that, you know, a boy genius or something right? That's able to kind of pull that off. It just seemed like frightening if you're watching it. And 25 years later, he would reprise that role of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway, directed by Mike Nichols. Really. He would also receive a Tony nomination for that didn't win. He never won a Tony, which is that's blasphemy. Awful. And some reviews said that he was too young at 44 to play Willy Loman. Which is funny because he played it at 16. Yeah, Lauren saying the guy a break. He's doing a great job here. You can't please everybody. Yeah. Well, I will compare like the critics to the Broadway plays in New York are like the critics of Boston sports fans. You're never gonna please them ever. It's like really tough to win them over. They know everything. Yeah. In 1984, he went to the New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs. That's a mouthful there. He met lifelong pals Bennett Miller and Dan Futterman. I've heard of them. And did he meet someone else notable, or was that later? Wait, who? You know? Yeah, well, I guess it was around this time that he did go to my summer camp. He was one of the counselors there. Okay. And what was your summer camp called them? My summer camp was called the East Boston summer camps. Okay, so it must have been after this first summer? Yeah, I think he was there at the same time as me around 8687 88 or something, where the picture we have right now is is him with my counselor, Billy Morris from East Boston camps. And I think him and Billy actually went to Boston University together. So that's what brought him in the picture. And I think Billy was like, Hey, I run this camp. It's actually in Westford, mass, which is, you know, like I would say, like 25 minutes outside of Boston. He's like, Hey, you should come and do this for a couple summers. Or, you know, come be a counselor for a little bit. You get some money. We have a good time. You know, I remember these counselors, they had a great time. They got hammered all the time. They got ridiculously drunk all the time. It's the 80s baby. Yeah. And it's really in the 80s. This story of the young working actor. Yeah. And I think he was, yeah, probably trying to save some money to go do summer stock, whatever he was doing the next year, or going up to Saratoga. And I kind of I a little bit remember him. I was young. I was like seven or eight years old. So I don't remember much about it. And it's not like, You're aware that it's he's this for No, no, he he's not like, you know, acting as Willy Loman at the camp. So I don't really know. He's like, a trained actor or anything. I don't and I don't really know anything about him. I just know he's a guy. That's, that's kind of out of place here. Because it's a very working class camp. Yeah. And he, he's not like a, from a privileged background, but he kind of he wears that. You know, like, that's what he feels like. Do you remember like, the time that you realized who he was? Like, oh, shit, like, I met that guy. In 2014 When he died? Oh, wow, that's good. That took me that well, because I didn't really pay attention to that camp that I went to. And I didn't really think much of it. And then I saw this picture posted. From a friend, friend of a friend posted it on my wall on Facebook. Remember, people just post pictures on your wall. And most of the time, it's annoying, but this time I'm like, Oh, my God sent you a post. Yeah, exactly. It brought me back to you know, this time when Yeah, he was one of my counselors at this camp. And I didn't even think about it until that and it since then. I did do a deep dive. But there's the East Boston camp like Facebook group. I did some during the pandemic, I went crazy multiple times. Like, I'm like, What am I what am I devil in my life, you know, and just like, looked at everything. And I found some pictures of me from this camp and I also refound this one of Philip here and Billy this CES them to I think they went to Germany together one year when they weren't going to East Boston camps they were just hanging out there. He's got a luscious hair cut. Yeah he does. He never utilized that ever again the long hair he did in some roles did he? Oh in Boogie Nights That's right. I totally forgot about it Boogie Nights. Yeah. And there's one more here Kyle of he's not in this one. I tried to find a picture with me with Philip Seymour Hoffman from camp but I couldn't find one. But yeah, this is one of just me. So which one are you? Yeah, exactly. These are really can't tell right now. Some kids got a Bart Simpson t shirt on which is like a very low quality version. But I really am on the on the far left side of the aisle. That is you that is zoom in a little Kyle. You're on the far right right now far right. Yeah. Okay. I didn't know what perspective you have. All right, let me yeah, this area. That's you. This was a camp primarily of like, Italian kids. For me. It's Boston. That it was like a foundation set up for getting me out of the city for the summer and go to this camp, which was a little bit outside of the city and that gentleman that whose sweat stain I'm casually just laying on there. Unfortunately that kid I came back the next year and I found out he had passed away like a week before I had gotten there. He drowned actually the lake in Westford, Massachusetts there that recently after that, yeah, less than a year later. Yeah. That Dennis I remember him crying Yeah, very sad. This was like my whole bunk here and it was just like, you know, it was a good time i i don't remember anything really too bad about this camp. There was a bunch of Irish immigrants that they brought over to be the counselors have to obviously they were working for nothing basically. And they were fine. Bad yet all right. Yeah, they were crazy. This is not like the normal nice Irish people you meet these are like the people from like, you know the the weeds in Ireland. One I saw it beat up some kid in the showers one time and like it got really crazy, but but for the most part, it was a nice, fun camp. Yeah, yeah. You have kids dying early. Yeah. Yeah. Our BD sounds like sleepers the full metal jacket I Cronenberg movie with Viggo Mortensen as the counselor. Five kids died. I see the big deal, you know, okay, Jeffrey Jones was traipsing around, but yeah. Yeah, he's the director. Yeah. Buffalo Bill is my one of my counselors. He's doing the book. So no recollection of you had to go to the bathroom. So you asked Phil Hoffman and he was like, the bathrooms right over there. Yeah. No, I don't I don't remember him. I feel like he could have been there but I don't specifically remember interactions with him. But I do could be at a big like mess hall and I I can remember kind of that he was definitely in that space. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Well, well, that's my connection to Philip Seymour Hoffman. Wrapped up for him. Thank you for sharing, of course. So he's up in Saratoga last week. Last week caught up to them. Yeah, lots of summer acting workshops and camps and well, that's what you do when you're an up and coming actor, like that generation that actually works for you know, like, like your Alec Baldwin and like people that came up in the New York acting T and you actually, you know, you try your ass off and stay jacking before you even think of doing a movie. Oh, if you haven't done Shakespeare in the park. Yeah, forget about going for the law and order row. Now. You have to pay your dues if you're in New York act, and that's the casting agents are looking for. Yeah, that's what all those people that did oz law and order. All that stuff. You know, they all came up in that kind of track. Phil Hoffman ended up graduating from NYU. Tisch School of the Arts. He actually quit drinking around this time, because at the age of 22, he entered rehab. He told Steve Kroft in a 60 Minutes interview that at that time, his drug use was advanced, advanced and he would just literally do everything. I like these little key words. Clearly, he's doing heroin and cocaine. Yeah. Crazy extent. Yeah. He said he would snort everything and anything. Wow. Imagine that like, I don't know. I've never had an addiction like that. But imagine just being able to not stop yourself like that. And then to quit like that so young. Before really? You're successful. Yeah. Because he says that if he was successful any earlier, he would have been dead. A lot of people say that I heard. I just heard Christoph Waltz on Bill Maher talking about that, actually, Oh, wow. He got success later in life. And he was like, if I didn't, I probably would have been a disaster and done something very bad because I was doing a lot of stuff in my 20s. Yeah, I'll say the same thing about myself. Yeah, although I still have another 10 years to go before success. And we have a clip of him talking about his addiction. Yes, fresh air with Terry Gross. What do you do? When like, you see people like really enjoying their wine and their beer or their, you know, cognac or whatever? Like, do you resent it? Do you know what I'm saying? Do you have to? Doesn't mean that there's any? Well, I don't think it's a great pleasure. A couple glasses of wine is not interesting to me at all. You want. I mean, that's what I meant by Sonic. It's not a great pleasure for me to have a couple of glasses of wine, that just that's kind of annoying. Do you know what I mean? Having the whole bottle right? That's much less much more pleasurable. You know what I mean? So it's somebody who doesn't understand that they just don't understand, you know, they're just so if I see somebody really enjoying their one glass of wine and walk away, then that's what they enjoy, sort of, but I can't be resentful that because that's not enjoyable to me. Wow. I mean, I can kind of see it both ways, though. I could see like having a couple glasses of wine or beer or something, and not drinking all of them, and also drinking all of them. But I have different aspects of both. For sure. Sometimes a Big Mac is the most boring thing in the world to me, but two Big Macs. Yeah, give me the buffet. Because like, that's what like, addiction is like you don't like eating like that. You know, you don't wait until a half an hour until you actually you feel satisfied from that food already that you because you don't need anymore. Right? But you just you know, you you just have that feel that craving like me with the the peanut butter pretzels that I don't need. Yeah, and I keep eating in between takes here. But yeah, I could see kind of what he means by that. Everything is excessive. Yeah. And actually, that's exactly what the problem was for Phil Hoffman to quote him, he kills pleasure. So he would drink too much coffee, drink the pot of coffee and find a way to ruin that even. Yeah, like nothing was done in ordinary amount. You got to know your limits, especially with coffee, like two cups and you're fine. Like anything more than that. You're chasing it. Chasing the dragon. So post rehab, he, his entire focus changed to acting. And it became a new kind of addiction. Early on, he appeared nude in King Lear. Oh, he was fearless. Did anyone ask him to do that? Yeah. No, in fact, they told him to put his first credit in TV or movies, law and order. Yeah, I remember him in this. That's the gateway for every New York actor. They have to run through law and order. Absolutely. And he was credited as Philip Hoffman. He later added the See More for as his middle name because of union rules. If you can believe it, there was a theater star named Philip Hoffman there was getting a lot of accolades. And they would get each other's checks. So yeah, the union I told him, Well, maybe he was making more than him with law. That's true, too. And after law and order, he has his big break that he says changed everything. Much like the play he saw with his mom earlier on. He also said saints everyday everything changed everything sent him a woman. Oh, yeah. Okay, we gotta move here. I'm ready for this one. Okay. Al Pacino is a blind asshole. Yeah, it was his first Oscar. I believe. Pacino. Yeah, yeah. Which is shocking. He was nominated before but this was his first win Best Actor. Yeah. Whoa. I'm blind. I tried out a new voice. And famously who I? Wow. Ooh, she's at. So Hoffman plays a student at Bard who is there with Chris O'Donnell's character are the main protagonist. And Phil was credited as Philip s. Hoffman was way oh yeah, he auditioned five times to get the role. Oh my god. Wow. And it really kicked things off. Future collaborator, Paul Thomas Anderson. In his interview on WTF with Marc Maron, he said, quote, when I saw him there for the first time and Scent of a Woman, I just knew what true love was. I knew what love at first sight was. It was the strangest feeling sitting in a movie theater and thinking he's for me, and I'm for him. And that was it. Wow. And quote, I kind of remember that interview, but that's so much too little. Pacino wasn't even that great. Thomas Edison Whoa. Whoa, Donald Trump liver. Yeah. Like he didn't know what he was back for Chris O'Donnell ever you didn't see Chris O'Donnell in liquids pizza or Boogie Nights. Oh, his kids anyway. Yeah. Well, I hope my thing with Chris O'Donnell is I always say he was just a placeholder until we got Matt Damon. He was just like, once we had Matt Damon they're like, We don't need you anymore. Chris O'Donnell. It's been fun. Matt day, Matt Damon. Yeah, Christo doesn't sound as good. Oh, yeah. And so he rode the wave of Scent of a Woman and appeared in my boyfriend's back. Nobody's Fool with Paul Newman. And when a man loves a woman with Meg Ryan is an alcoholic. And in that picture, he was finally credited with his full name, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Oh, wow. 1995 Phil Hoffman joined the labyrinth Theatre Company, like the David Bowie movie. And on their website, their mission is, quote, founded in 1992 by a small group of actors who wanted to push their artistic limits, and how more inclusive stories that expanded the boundaries of mainstream theater. Inclusive, like more white people, much more white people It sounds like you know that that's what people do. Like everyone's following the Steppenwolf kind of, you know, way of doing I'm trying to Steppenwolf didn't create like, you know, doing like an artist collective of actors and stuff, but a lot of people would do that just kind of start a theater and stuff, ie they would aspire to be Steppenwolf. Obviously this one of the Boilermaker high profile ones Yes. Big is Steppenwolf. Yeah, doesn't sound like it. I thought we were talking about the American Canadian rock band that sang Born to be Wild. Yeah, magic carpet. Right. Steppenwolf started at all. Hoffman later became artistic co director, and he would direct and star in various plays out of that theater. And in 2010, he actually utilized the entire troupe of actors and crew and directed his one and only movie called Jack goes boating. CO starring Amy Ryan. And great John Ortiz, who was also running the theater who's great also. And Jack goes boating based on an off Broadway play. I'd never watched this. Yeah, it's pretty interesting. It's like awkward love story about a couple of shy people. I couldn't see him directing like a rom com or anything like it's definitely gonna be some like heady kind of dark, character driven, you know, mood moody type of piece or something. I think John Cassavetes presents love on the spectrum. Oh my God. That's what this sounds like a panic attack. Yeah, that sounds awful. It really, it generally received positive reviews, especially for the main actors. So there you go. He loved that theater, always was involved with it somehow and his only movie is basically a love letter to that theater well, but he also went to Hollywood. And in 1996, he appeared in a little movie called Twister, where he played a storm chaser and have that experience. He remembers there were a lot of other young actors, and it was a blast. And do you want to hear a little bit of trivia? Yes, please. There were a bunch of scenes that were deleted with him and Carrie our Wes Yeah. Who you I met I met him at a at a table read one time and he was a very, very nice guy. Nice, very good guy. And there scenes were deleted because of profanity because the studio decided to change the radio From IRA to PG 13 Wow. Well Helen Hunt is more of a PG 13 type of actor I feel like because of Matt about you. Yeah. And Paul, right. Is it people coming from Mad About You to go see this movie? They're like, Oh my God, what's the F word? Another piece of trivia is in the theatrical version. There's a scene where Hoffman is sitting on a lawn chair, and there's a brief moment where his genitals are exposed. Oh, Jesus and Rodney Dangerfield, they later erased it from the home video release. The launch is out of order. Oh, man, Philip, you're really showing the whole show. They're like what do you think this is King Lear tornado movie? Sack away. Yeah. I don't care if you're a New York actor. Can that followed that with heart eight, his first movie with Paul Thomas Anderson PTA also happened to be Petey Anderson's first movie. Yeah, I remember him as like the the big high roller in the in like the shitty Reno Casino. Yeah. craps player craps player who keeps shitting on Jerry are they get the bad guy Philip Baker Hall fill? Yeah, yeah. And he's called them old timer. He's like that right old timer. He was great. It kind of reminded me of later on when he did punch drunk. Love, like kinda like that asshole. Like, horrible character, right? A year later. 1997 He did another movie with PT Anderson that we all know and love called Boogie Nights. Oh my god. This is this when he came on my radar after being at camp with him. Which if I if I had known that that guy was at my camp. At that age, I'd be like you're gonna mooch? You might have had a chance. You would have went for me. I think Boogie Nights in an ensemble. That is just insane. Yeah, everybody's hard to stay. Amazing. Yeah, somehow Hoffman stole the show is Scotty the boom operator who is looking for love in all the wrong places. I just remember him saying I'm sorry, man. I'm just so drunk when he tries to make Degler I'm just so I'm just so drunk. I'm sorry, man. And then he's like, if you want you can kiss me. Take this like, Yo, man. No, I don't want to kiss you. Yeah, we're still friends. It's cool. Then he goes and balls his eyes out in the car. fucked up, man. Yeah, he loses his shit. So much pain. Yeah, yeah. Mark Wahlberg. Musta hated that seem to because he's like, seems like someone that doesn't go down for shit like that. Yeah, yeah. Although he was pretty game for that movie. I guess so because it launched him there'd be no Planet of the Apes remake. Without that, there wouldn't be no Daddy's home too. Yeah, without that no guy who said he could stop 911? Yeah. Yeah, no. Transformers three. Yeah. Where it was. Oh, yeah. We're talking about booking tonight. But yeah, I stellar performance amongst many great performance. And after this, he establishes himself as a go to character actor. Yep. A studio had told them you know what, you're always going to be working because they need guys like you and Hollywood. Yeah. Yeah, you may not be the main star. But you are going to work because you're so versatile, you know? Yeah. And Hoffman had no aspirations to be a movie star anyway. Again, it's that New York actor thing where they want to go to their coffee shop and not be recognized. Yeah, so Hoffman would often play flawed offbeat characters rather than the traditional hero. And we have a clip here about him talking about his acting process to actually well it takes a tremendous amount of focus and concentration it really it really does is a kind of sharpness of concentration that you have to hold over a period of time that's that's that is really difficult to do and so I find that I have to kind of go there I have to kind of fully go there I can't kind of half go there three quarters go there. And if I'm if I'm half or three quarters I'm really bad. There's no middle ground for me. That's like his get out. Substance intake. It's nothing halfway exact. It's all the same job. Can I jump in like crazy? Clues you into on why he's so entertaining to watch? Like he is giving you everything? Yeah, he's cutting out his heart and putting it on a playful Yeah, that can only last so long, though. I feel like if you are like that, you know, you can't just give everything to the roll every single time. I don't know. 1998 would prove to be a big year for him. He did To the indie comedy next stop Wonderland. Then he did the Big Lebowski. Oh my god, he played Geoffrey Lebowski his henchmen brand brand. Yeah. Brands explained it to you. What else do you need to know? Totally unfazed by anything happening around him by the insanity of this story. And just I don't know it was mild talker. Yeah, he Yeah, just like that weird HR guy. That weird HR guy that knives you in the back maybe that's like his data at work at Xerox or something. And that's basically what they do to the dude later on in the movie. Yeah, they did. They totally set him up. Yeah, really. Her life is in your hands, dude. Abraham saying that to him over and over after they give him that briefcase full of fake money for life is in your head. Mr. Lebowski one meter to say that a couple of times. way man. Cool. And continuing in 1998 Patch Adams he played Robin Williams roommate long suffering roommate just made a bad decision, in my opinion. And what does he say in it? Kyle? He's, he's just mad at Robin Williams just being a clown instead of an actual doctor. And he's saying yes, I might be a dick. But if if I'm dying, I'd rather have the dick. Yeah, doing surgery on my brain than a guy wearing a make clown makeup. Yeah, he doesn't buy into the whole being a clown cures cancer thing. I'm sorry. I agree, though. I love Robin Williams. But this is just a bad idea for a movie. You know, I think we should really be examining our healthcare system here and not having clowns doing surgery on people. I'm sorry, it called me crazy movie. It's absurd. And then to end 1998 He appeared in happiness. Oh my god. This is a wild one perhaps one of the creepiest characters in cinema history. And this isn't a movie shot there's also a pedophile Todd salons director from the from the fun wacky might have thought so a lot. That depraved fun and wacky my Yeah, yeah, i i My good friend of mine was was recommending this to a girl recently. I'm like, Oh, my unity sane person, great date movie. What are you talking about? Oh, you want to you want to happiness and chill on my couch. In the beginning. He's at the therapists office going like, Look, I know I'm boring. You don't have to lie to me. I know boring people to now. And then of course, then it zooms in on the therapist and you hear his thoughts going like, Okay, I need to buy a gallon of milk. Yeah, totally zoned out. I feel like they stole that for Something About Mary remember the purpose. And that was just, he's coming back and eat a sandwich. That's hilarious. And later, he makes obscene phone calls to his neighbor that he has a crush on. Yeah. And according to IMDb. He based his character off of Ralph Reed, the founder of the Christian coalition, and a famous Republican politician. Yeah. Which is interesting. Well, a lot of these, you know, these these Christ's, you know, ministers are secretly scoundrels. I think he's playing that that kind of into the role Bambi Hoffman appeared in this documentary called The party's over about the 2000 election. Oh, yeah. I remember that. Wow. And he basically plays the role of a concerned citizen, but it's himself. It's a documentary. Yeah. And the director is Donovan Leach. Who is the son of the Donovan. Oh, really? Yeah. Well, he his sister is Ione Skye, I think which was also dove into daughter who was married to the Beastie boy, Adam Horvitz for a wow. Yeah. Interesting. Little, little trivia for you. Yeah. And so yeah, this movie, he goes all over the place culminating in him going to the Republican convention in Los Angeles, really? And who does he meet there? But Ralph Reed, who proceeds to tell him that happiness is if not his favorite one of his favorite movie watch. And we have a clip you were in everything. Yeah, we're in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Yeah. Thanks. I think you're one of the best character actors. Oh, I mean, great work. Have you been Over the past five days, yes. No, I made your own way. I was just like a dog. Everything over two months. Just fabulous. Yeah, yeah, they voted him in right now. Right? Yeah. Anyway, you're a fabulous. Fabulous. looking them up and down there. Yeah. Yeah. What do you say to them? I still found it very ballsy that they had that RNC convention in, in Los Angeles. I remember Rage Against the Machine, you know, playing, you know, a concert outside of there to protest it. Yeah, there was a lot of protests and going. Wow, he won, allegedly. You know, I don't think he won. But yeah, we won't get into that. Yeah. And 911 happened the next year. Well, I let's don't get into that either. So Donovan Leach, the director. He says that Phil was awesome to work with, you know, a good friend of his, but some of that intensity would boil over into anger on occasion because he tells a story how at the convention, fill up, had his mom come out, you know, to be there. And they couldn't find exactly where she was. He was kind of lost inside the convention hall. And so the production assistants or whoever's job it is, according all these people was not doing a good job. No, and he blew up at Donovan's girlfriend. Oh, really? And it really over the top way. No Sure. Yeah. So you know, what is nice guy but there was a rage there. Yeah. Well, he could have been I don't know, a B could have been using maybe also he was he was coming off of something or from what I know he was sober during this time. Okay, the whole time actually. Until he wasn't Yeah, so the Euro throughout the 90s in the 2000s was doing great happiness Boogie Nights all that he's sober. Well, Donovan made a note to himself. Don't piss this guy off. Yeah. 9099 The train keeps rolling. He appeared with one of his idols, Robert De Niro. And Joel Schumacher is flawless. And he played a drag queen. I remember that man went to Nero's security guard who's really homophobic and has a stroke. And so Hoffman as a nurse. He has got like Bell's palsy where like half his face yeah, yeah. And Lala Tito Yeah. And didn't he was like you look if that was the entire premise. Gay Guy and guy that so many movies? Yeah. Cut an hour off. It's a sitcom. Yeah, exactly. Really good performance, though. I have to say both of them. Yeah. Talented Mr. Ripley. Hoffman played Freddie miles Ivy League rich boy who hates Matt Damon. And can you blame them? fits into that role very well as like, like I was saying before a guy of affluence. That whole movie makes me so nervous. Oh, it's such an uncomfortable movie. And it's so crazy. Ralph Reed loves it. So happiness, but yeah, he loves that too. Yeah, but happiness was his favorite. Yeah. Crazy. admit to that. Even if it was your favorite? Yeah. Magnolia. That was also 9099. Yeah. Phil Parma, the nurse. And this really is the one who said Robert, I think this sealed the deal. Were Hoffman is a versatile character actor. Yeah, who not only will blend into the ensemble, but at the same time completely stick out and be memorable. Because the level of empathy that this nurse has in that movie is yeah, you can just feel it. I mean, he's desperately trying to get a hold of Tom Cruise. Yeah. To say that his dad who ditched Tom Cruise? Yeah. As a kid is dying. Yep. And you know, even though this guy is not a likable figure, the nurse still has compassion. Yeah. Yeah, I remember that. He was great at like, eight he'd stayed in that same location the entire movie. Yeah, he's just he's just trying to make phone calls and get at some point. He's trying to get like dirty magazines like smile. He's like, can you get me a penthouse? And they're like, Yeah, sure they deliver all that stuff and that's why he goes to find the Frank Mackay ads so he can call in actually great connection with and you know, Tom Cruise is amazing in that amazing and it he's sets that into motion the nurse the beating at the does Yeah, I remember what Tom Cruise came into the house. He goes, I didn't those dogs touched me. I'm gonna drop kick those dogs So he's like, I'm gonna repeat this again. Trust me, I'm gonna drop kick him and kill him or something. And then in 2000 Hoffman played against type, you know, he's been building Well, I guess not so much the nurse because he continues that track as sensitive screenwriter and David Mamet's are David mermaids state in Maine. And he's also Rebecca pigeons. love interest in the movie. Yeah. So who's David mermaids? Real Life real life? And I say I say May because I did have a professor at a not so prestigious Massachusetts University, who said he was friends with David Mamet, and he kept calling them David Mumei. Like a fool. Yeah, like, like another film. Professor might It was ridiculous. Yeah, not good professors I had and then also in 2000, yeah, one of my favorite roles of his almost famous. Oh, yeah, rock journalist Lester Bangs. Who mentors young William Miller. Yeah. badeen rocket rolls. All right, exactly. It's too bad. You missed it. I don't do you do a good Philip Seymour Hoffman? I think yeah. I do what I can. Yeah. Show up. And the sad of this movie, Philip Seymour Hoffman had the flu the entire time. I mean, he only spent four days shooting but still the whole part he was sick. And listen to this. Ironically, the real Lester Bangs who the character you know who he plays? It's based on them. The real guy died young of an overdose in 1982. And in his system, where opioids benzos and NyQuil, and why was he taking all that to combat the flu? So the real Lester Bangs died while he had the flu, overdosing on drugs and playing him in the movie now Philip Seymour Hoffman has the flu. That's crazy. Yes. And of course, we all know he also died of a drug overdose, but I'm ahead of myself. Oh, wait, let's hear a little of this famous clip. See, Friendship is the boozy feature. They want you to get drunk and feeling like you belong. Well, it was fun. Because they make you feel cool. And hey, I met you. You are not cool. I know. You didn't want I thought it was a new I wasn't because we are on cool. While women always be problem for guys like us, most of the great art in the world is about that very problem. Good looking people. They got no spine. Art never lasts. And he goes on to say the only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool. Cameron Crowe wrote that, of course based on his experience, and he called Phil Hoffman and actors actor. Yeah. 2002 Phil Hoffman finally had his first starring role in love Liza, a movie Written by his older brother Gordy. I remember hearing about this. He hops gas in the movie nights after his wife dies too. That's the logline. Nice. That's a long line. Good idea. Then he appeared in Brett Ratner's Red Dragon. Brett Ratner we go from PT Anderson. Cameron Crowe to Brett rad you like I'm on the downward Yeah. Yeah. Sir Anthony Hopkins showed up on the set during one of his off days just so he could watch Hoffman work. He's a fan of actors. I heard he wrote a entire letter to Bryan Cranston after watch Breaking Bad about about how great his performance was. That's awesome. I wanted to eat your performance with five beans and a nice Kiante. And also in 2000 to 25th hour. Another fuckin great movie gang or one of my favorite movies. Spike Lee. I agree. It doesn't get much better than 25th Yeah, I heard I don't know. It's a pain in the ass. But I do like that movie. Well, when you get the right performance out of him. Maybe it was worth it. It could be I don't know. But yeah, he plays his friend in it. Yeah. Edward Norton's going to jail. He's kind of a schlubby bum friend the who's like who comes from money who has a crush on one of his students? Yes. It played by Anna Paquin, who I found out was from New Zealand recently. Yes, kiwi, and lost. Lost her accent she did, and her good roles like Austin. Bye Although he lost his accent he sounds like Elvis now. He should lose that. What accent? You don't see Tom Hanks keeping his accent from that movie for what? Philadelphia? No. Yeah, he keeps the physique of Philadelphia and the accent of Elvis. All right. And then 2002 wasn't great enough. punch drunk love get out of town playing Dean the mattress man. Yeah, he extorts money from Adam Sandler who calls his scam phone sex line. This is the intensity got from East Boston camps he brought into this movie because you want to seize the some of this intensity. Let's watch this after Adam Sandler is confronting them on the phone. Yeah. person you have no right taking people's confidence in your service. You understand me sir? No, no. Shut up. Shut up, shut up. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut shut I mean, that's just one of the greatest pieces of art. Yeah, those he's great. Like, he doesn't a lot of roles like that. His best roles are just in on a phone in a room. That's all he needs. Really? Yes. Do clips. Yeah. And then you know, 2003 Onward. Owning Mahoney Cold Mountain teaming up with Anthony Ming gala again from Talented Mr. Epic Movie who would die a couple years later. Yeah. And his son would live on as an actor. Yep. Along Came Polly. Yeah, the sharp movie. That's what I'm talking about. Raindrops he's shooting color against the backboard. He's all dressed up head to toe. Ready to play basketball on the streets in New York. And he sucks so good. Yeah, he's so funny in that former child actor in it, right? Yes. Kind of an adult actor? Yeah. Owning himself. I bet kind of sounds like Tim Dylan. And as he was friends with a mesa Daris and appeared in strangers with candy, the movie? Oh, yeah. In 2005. I didn't know he was involved in that whole sit. deras family. Well, most people wanted to forget that movie. But the show was great. I never like I never. I never got it. It was hilarious. It was a weird girl making weird faces and Barry blank. Just do this. And David Letterman thought it was really cool. Yeah, I like that show. Gotta go. Got it. Good to go. Arliss All right. After stranger with the candy. Where can you go? But up. Capote 2005 cuppa tea. I remember his friends from camp. Dan Futterman from my own book, Aaron Bennett, Miller. Well, Dan wrote a screenplay. And he said, Hey, Ben, you should direct this. It's about Truman Capote. And in cold blood, the making of it. Yeah. Who should we get to play Truman? And then they both pause and they were like, Phil, oh, where was that home improvement? Yeah. More power. And as anyone would be, I think he was apprehensive at taking the role to do a serious drama as Truman Capote. Because Phil, you know, he's like, 510 not a really tall guy, but he's a big guy. And he's got a low voice masculine. So he was intimidated to say yes to the role at first and through kappa he ultimately did. Put it was like a little guy with like a very high voice like that. Yeah, and let's turn that clip on. In this clip, you'll notice his diminutive figure. I did get the word right this time. Yeah. But look, it always slumps into the chair. I thought your last book was even better than the first. Thank you. Just when you think they've gotten as good as they can get Thank you very much. Thank them. Thank you very much. Like go like go Catherine Keener and you paid him to say that how did you know just when you think they've gotten as good as they can get using those two so weird pick a buddy plays there where he just has paid someone unfortunately some sad sack let's say you're great. Yeah. And on his movies such as this one for purely technical reasons. He would stay character while shooting. He would lose the voice or the you know, the character if he stopped. Yeah. So he must have been fun to have lunch with her. Well, you can finish that buffalo chicken read. I gotta work tomorrow morning. I'm so hungry. I could eat Arby's. Yeah, that would be obnoxious to keep up like, you know, I don't know how long they do the shooting days. It's gotta be shooting for at least two months. That'd be awful. But he did win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. And in his speech, he said, quote, my mom's name is Marilyn O'Connor and she's here tonight. And I'd like if you see her tonight to congratulate her because she brought up four kids alone, and she deserves it. Congratulations for that. Yeah, give it up for my mama. Character. I'd like to thank my mother. Auntie Academy. Yeah. Then he followed that up with Mission Impossible three with Tom Cruise's back reunion. Yeah, reunion that Magnolia days. Yep. Then you know other movies. The Savage is directed by JJ Abrams. Sorry, keep going. Did he? JJ Abrams direct. Oh, yeah. I thought you meant the savage. No, I don't remember JJ Abrams directing an Alzheimer's drama. Then Charlie Wilson's War yeah, great in that. Nether Oscar nomination by the way for that. And then ending in 2007 with this might be my favorite Phil Hoffman movie besides almost famous and punch drunk love. Before the devil knows you're dead. Oh my directed by Sidney Lumet. Yeah, legendary director. This guy directed network. Yeah, you know, the front connection. Well about Hoffman, he said that there's a scene in a car that was one of the most extraordinary scenes of act nine with which he had ever been involved. This is like, happiness or The Talented Mr. Ripley. For me. This movie is so tense and so visceral and real. It just makes you have like a panic attack. It's like there's no other way to say it's crazy how good this movie and the opening scene it just starts right away. And never lets up. No. It's not fair. It's not fair. Oh, my life. I've been afraid of becoming like give all my life over like with you and it's not fair. You get the same story and make it all go away. It's too late. It's not that easy. It's not fair. It's not fucking fair I mean, if that's not real, I don't know why we, man. Yeah. And he's married to Marissa tow man that Yeah, and he's depressed. It's like, George Costanza is doing pretty well. That's what you know, you're a fucking loser. Not you can't even appreciate versus obey. Yeah. 2008 We're back to John Patrick Shanley who had a play out when Hoffman died no relation to the priests. But there is a connection. There's a connection about a priests inappropriate relationship with a troubled student. Yeah. And the other nuns. Yeah. Call it into question. Is it Amy Adams a redhead, Donna? Yeah. And then Meryl Streep and viola de there's like three redhead? actresses. I get them all confused. Oh, Jessica. Chasteen. Probably. Yeah. And then Ron Howard's daughter. Oh, yeah. Blythe, Blythe Blythe Danner? No, that's quarter the bail. Yeah, some Bryce Dallas Howard. Yeah. Bryce Dallas Howard Dallas Buyers Club. Whatever. We should I didn't know that. That's Ron Howard's daughter. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Lady in the Water are another great. Shanley only told the actor who played father Flynn whether or not he was guilty. So basically he told Hoffman the real story behind the character but the audience never finds out okay. And Phil Hoffman said that this was the thing he was asked about the most people would come up to him all the time demanding he tell them whether the priest in that movie did it or not did I mean I think it's pretty clear he did. Okay. Or didn't believe in other Oscar nomination last to Heath Ledger. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we talked about that in the Heath Ledger episode in which he went for the Joker ad after he died. Yeah, yeah. Actors were dropping like flies in 2008 is crazy, like good actors in introducing him previous year's winner Alan Arkin called him Seymour Phillip Hoffman. Did he really? You can see Phil kind of laugh at? Yeah. Yeah. 2008 you got synecdoche in New York? I don't even want to get stuff. Oh, talk about throwing yourself into a role. This is Charlie Kaufman. No, this is him his fault. Like he made this movie. craze. Yeah. And stripping away all vanity. And using every little bit of credibility he built up in Hollywood in the entertainment industry to make this big, bloated piece of crap insane movies. I fell asleep when I saw it in the theater. Yeah, it meant nothing to anyone. It just like was nonsense piled on nonsense. And it was just like a first draft of a movie. You just throw away. Right? Yeah, Jesus. small part in the Invention of Lying Ricky Gervais, Moneyball, directed by Bennett Miller from Capote his pal by Allah Aaron Sorkin Sorkin Yeah. He played Oakland A's manager in that great. Ides of March replaced Brad Pitt in that one George Clooney movie? And then a lake quartet in 2012. Yep. Also in 2012. There was another little movie called The Master. Oh, yeah, I've come around on the master. I didn't really like it to begin with because I thought it was, again just kind of like self indulgent nonsense, and just like really good shots and cinematography. But he didn't really take the big swings at Scientology. I wanted him to take meaning Paul Thomas Anderson, it's not as tight as There will be blood. But it's going for the same feeling. It is about a powerful, ruthless guy that draws people in Yeah. And you know, it was there was a lot of hubbub beforehand that it was gonna be about Scientology and it really didn't deliver on not at all the dreams. I think they're trying to get away they're trying to like make some some discussion about what what that is, but it was totally lost. Yeah, it's impressionistic. Yeah, story and that. Yeah, but it beautiful movie. This is beautiful. Yeah, gorgeous. And Joaquin Phoenix is great. I remember him. Both of them. Yeah, they're both amazing. But like, I think it was lacking something. You have a leader. It's Lancaster died. And instead of Scientology, it's the cause. Yeah. It was an intense shoot completed in September 2011. It was three years in the making. As usual, Hoffman threw everything into the role. And at the wrap party for the master that must have been a wild partner. He had his first drink and 23 years. He had recently told his girlfriend Mimi, which I forgot to mention. In 1999. He met costume designer Mimi O'Donnell, they started dating seriously around 2001. And in 2003, they had their first kid Cooper. Oh, okay, followed by two other daughters. So he had recently told girlfriend Mimi, he said, I think I can handle drinking again. And she's like, I don't know about that. But he did it anyway. And of course, that led to a relapse of prescription pills. Booze, cocaine. Well, now heroin now it's like everything the floodgates were opened up. Yeah, because he has access to anything in the world. Now. It's not like when you're a kid, and you know you don't even know where to find cocaine. Now. He's just like, there's like pills services in Manhattan that deliver shit to you. A year later at the Venice Film Festival. His behavior was alarming. He was falling asleep during press junkets. I'm only laughing because I'm imagining like, what's his name? Your former boss? Oh, Byron Allen. Yeah. Byron now inside to ask him about the master. He's just like hey, I fell. I recently heard you were on a plane. Probably why he fell asleep. Because Byron Allen just boredom. So how are you like the master? Does he play basketball? Funny story about playing basketball. Ron Hubbard. He was a weirdo. What did Tom Cruise say about Hey, wake up. Tell us about the movie what some other people's and rumor has it that he was also taking oxycontin at that time that's causing the drowsiness yeah about it. That's bad man. I'll longtime friend Ethan Hawke noticed that his drinking had gotten a little out of control when he went to see him perform in that revival of Death of a Salesman in 2012. Which would be his last play. Really, which is poetic in some ways, because that was his first big play. No. 16 year old. Yeah. So, yeah. Anyway, in summer 2013, Hoffman entered rehab for 10 days, because he was spiraling out of control. It was getting too obvious it Yes, exactly. Everyone was noticing. That brings us to the Hunger Games. He signed on for three movies in the series, his first one being catching fire, released in 2013. And being the only one that he was alive to see. Wow. Yeah, he played plutonic heavens be head game maker turned a revolutionary leader of the underground rebellion. If you haven't seen the Hunger Games, who cares? And if you have, you know what I'm talking about? I don't know what any of this crap is. Yeah, doesn't matter. December 2013, Hoffman relapsed and got back on heroin. Oh, no. And Mi Mi told him to move out of the family home for the safety of their relationship and their kids. Yeah. Can't have needles around like that. No, yeah. Just passing out and some in the shower. Like he sounds so similar to heat letter. It's crazy. Like, like the the level of drugs and insanity that Michelle Williams was dealing with and like, like, they're both people that really throw themselves 130% at everything they're doing. So when they're getting fucked up like that, they're doing that that much too. So true. Because the Joker, it's the quintessential roll. Yeah, that is intense and possibly killed. dropped everything in Yeah, yeah. And that's what Phil said too, about his acting process. He says that, you know how he said he has to go there, you know, stay in it. He said he would do that to the point of ill health. But you're those demons follow you and stuff of these crazy characters in the depths that you're going with them and it's not worth it. No, it's not worth I don't think it's not worth getting a million dollars for whatever this Hunger Games nonsense is and like, whatever. And I'm not blaming the master by any means. But that wasn't fucking worth it. No, not not. Yeah. And look, if you listen to Paul Thomas Anderson that rolls off his bow he claims is his best movie so proud of it. Yeah. And also he was a bit of a misstep. Let's goofy guy, also Paul Thomas Anderson. He's like, he's fine. He's, he's skateboarding and like fucking Tarzana. December 2013, he's told to move out. So he started living in an apartment around the corner that he had originally rented as a workspace and this is in Greenwich Village, New York. Nice real estate were also what's her name, had an office. Oh, Adrian shell. Yeah, yes, she did. Later that month, he attended a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, where he said that he was counting his sobriety in days. However, his addiction was about to overtake him completely. January 2014, Sundance Film Festival. He's there to promote his new movie, a most wanted man. He has a disheveled appearance. And people are noticing that he's slurring his speech. They see him drinking alone in bars, and he's forgetting the names of people that he knows very well. So completely out of it. And a journalist named John Rundschau recalls having an encounter with him where Hoffman said something pretty disturbing. And we have a clip, oh, man. I bumped into him at one of the late night parties in Sundance, and he looked a little disheveled. He hadn't shaved. And I said, What's your name? And he said, You don't know who I am? And I said, No, what do you do? And he said, I'm a heroin addict. And then he took off his cap, and looked me straight in the eyes. And I said, Oh, you're Philip Seymour Hoffman. And he said, bingo. And at that point, he's sort of trailed off in as he was walking off. He said, Well, I just got out of rehab. Man, yeah. And, you know, not to shit on Philip Seymour Hoffman not to speak ill of the dead. He, you know, it's hard to tell when he's disheveled. And he's not you know, it says that bad design. Are you preparing for your next role? Is happiness too high? No, I don't. Yeah. But you know that that's crazy, though, that he's that explicit about what's going on? Or maybe they're saying that that he's so disheveled Oh, shaven from the normal this? Yeah, no, that's why Oh, third degree of disheveled. Okay, so yeah, that brings us to Thursday, January 30 2014. He's on a break from filming the final installment of The Hunger Games in Atlanta. Hoffman is spotted at a bar drinking heavily with an unnamed woman. Witnesses know that he makes at least a dozen trips to the bathroom where they think he was snorting substances. After the bar. He hopped on a flight back to NYC and he was photographed passed out on the plane. I can't help but notice that iced coffee like he's trying to wake up or something and he's already drinking like half of the iced coffee, but it's clearly not working. This is the last photo of him. asleep on the plane. She's Friday, January 31 2014. At around 8am He's seen walking around the Greenwich Village neighborhood business as usual. Saturday, February 1 2014. Same time around 8am. He goes to chocolate bar. It's not a big chocolate bar. It's

called chocolate bar. And it's his favorite in the area. And he ordered a quadruple espresso. Oh my god, I gotta get that energy. Yeah, I know. Well, you gotta bounce back, I guess. 1:30pm he receives a call from his assistant, Isabella wing Devi, who later said he sounded normal. About a half hour after that. Phil leaves the apartment and bumps into me me on the street. Oh, man. She says he seemed high. Later at 8pm. Mimi calls Phil to make arrangements for him picking up the kids the next morning. And again. She senses that he's high. Yeah, you don't want to give your kids to this guy right now. In this current state? No, but he's not incapacitated. Because an hour after that he leaves the apartment and at 9pm He's seen at a nearby deli with two men. A witness says he be lined for the ATM and withdrew $1,200 in $200 increments and it is speculated that those two men were obviously his drug dealers. Okay, so he's asking for $200 bills well the ATM only let him take out 200 At a time yeah oh my god he's 1200 I you know call me the guy that you know is starving for money but those are charging the fees every single time Oh yeah, it's like six bucks a pop probably maybe more than that. Yeah, I mean in New York City deli like yeah, like shady ATM Yeah, especially in the village Come on. Yeah, probably is like eight to 10 bucks. Again screwed who would have thunk it rich heroin addicts don't care about the fees. Yeah. 10pm he and the guys go to automatic Slim's sounds like a Tarantino type joint. Okay, we're gonna go back slid right? I want to win that trophy because it's cool. Jan, that's what I liked Jan. It's a neighborhood bar where he was a regular. Usually, instead of drinking, he would eat cheeseburgers and fries. And that night he had his usual burger with a cranberry and soda alcohol free. So even though he was back on drinking, he did not have it that night. And he leaves around 11pm. Sunday, February 2 2014 9am. Mimi is waiting for Hoffman to pick up the kids. But he's late. She texts his good friend play right David bar cats and asks if he can go over and check on him. 11:

30am Cats goes to the apartment with Isabella, the assistant. The building manager opens the door for them. Upon entering, they find Hoffman dead in the bathroom. He's clad in shorts and a T shirt with a needle sticking out of his left arm. Oh my god, Hoffman was 46 years old. Well, fuck. And for lack of a better analogy. Talk about getting your hand caught in the cookie jar. It's like Make no mistake. Yeah, this is how he died. Yeah, like heroin overdose. Oh my god. But it wasn't just heroin. The NYPD finds roughly 50 bags of heroin in the apartment labeled ace of spades and 20 hypodermic needles, among other drugs. I'd paraphernalia, cocaine, heroin and benzodiazepine, which can sometimes treat alcohol dependence were all found in his system. And his death was ruled as accidental. Well, the I feel like the benzos that that's for the day after, you know, to bring you down. If you're depending on if like you're you have a hangover or you're trying to come off of like a bad heroin withdrawal, you do stuff like that. And it's just like, you just have all these drugs to like, get you fucked up, and then to bring you down and get you sober, and then just redoing that cycle over and over mixing and mixing. Oh my god, you're just constantly trying to ride a wave. Yes. It's just up and down. And then you're like, you're leaving your system and you're coming back in and you're enjoying that. Like, if you were a painter, and you're mixing colors, it's like, okay, it's a little bit brown now, but I want to make it a little lighter. Now it's too late. Yeah. Yeah. And that doesn't it's not conducive to living a normal life into like having normal relationships with people around you. The Press reported that it was possibly a speed ball that killed him. Always is coke and heroin. Yeah. Where was John for shot the Yeah. It was in a drink this time. Yeah, I guess someone gave him a drink at the bar. Well, the Speedball killed John Belushi obviously. Yes. And Man River fina, and maybe Chris Farley, possibly Chris Farley. But the coroner's report states that It's unknown how the drugs were taken. So was it the quality because in early 2014, there were multiple cases on the east coast of heroin being mixed with fentanyl. Starting back that Oh, wow. Because now it's really added. Now. It's rapid. Yeah. There's like comedian's dying of that. Yeah. Yeah. The tainted drugs caused multiple deaths at that time. Yeah. However, the bags from Hoffman's apartment was sent to him for testing and came up negative for fentanyl. Wow. So he did not have the tainted heroin. It was regular regular treat heroin. Was it st was like that was the consistency that bad like, was it? No, it wasn't. Okay. No. So what caused his death? Acute mixed drug intoxication. Vyvanse was found in the apartment. And that's an amphetamine that's used to treat ADHD, which he didn't suffer from. Yeah, it's illegal cocaine pretty much. And it's also an appetite suppressant. And based on the photos in his final meals, he wasn't exactly losing weight. Yeah, he wasn't he wasn't the picture of how much yeah, and same with the benzos for treating alcohol dependence. He was spotted drinking heavily at the Atlanta bar. So clearly, he wasn't using the benzos to treat his alcohol now. So the conclusion is that he was using all these drugs merely to get high. Yeah. Which is incredibly dangerous. Well, that's a very American way of being like, yeah, I you know, I'm okay. Because I'm getting all these prescriptions. I'm taking them, you know, and now this thought that it was okay. Because they were prescribed by a doctor. He didn't think he was a drug addict. Yeah. What he's got going on here are a bunch of powerful stimulants, and depressants, which ended up working in combination to stop either his brain or his heart. Yeah. And whenever it wasn't happened extremely fast, almost instantly. Hence the needle in his arm. Yeah, there was no time to get help, or even remove the needle. Because if I was dying, and I saw the needle there, I bet. I'd like throw it. Yeah, sorry, it doesn't look so fast. But he like he was used to hiding all of this, this, you know, the drug use and stuff, but it's hard. It's hard to he can't do it anymore. You When You're that into it, that far gone. There's no hiding that he's hiding amongst these kind of like, kind of more upper crust people that are, you know, you know, into the arts that are living in, you know, the epicenter of Manhattan. They're just like, where people go to once they've made it. Two days later, the cops raided the apartment of musician Robert vineberg, in Little Italy, and they found 300 bags of heroin stashed away. And they had labels that match those of Hoffman's. Yeah, the ace of spades. I heard about those. There was a drug delivery system that was going around Manhattan and two others were also arrested. vineberg confessed that he did sell drugs to Hoffman, sometimes. He claimed they were friends and that he was just escape go. Oh, they're all buddies. Yeah, they were talking about the arts together. Good pals. Yeah. Ah this this guy that got arrested vineberg He looks like the Reverend Bob Levy. I thought the same. He looks like someone for a second I'm like Bob levy provided heroin but for some reason I like the other guy better than Bob. funnier. He's more successful better at Rose and get this the arresting officer forgot to read vineberg his Miranda rights. So he ultimately pleaded guilty to a lesser drug charge and received five years probation. Well catch me COPPA. And that's not the only controversy. The National Enquirer published I suppose it interview with Hoffman's friend David Barr Katz, the one who discovered him all this is insane in which cats claimed that he and Hoffman were quote, homosexual lovers. He also said he saw him freebasing cocaine the night before he died. Oh my God. Only problem is cats never spoke to the tabloid. It was a complete fabrication. So Katz ended up suing the National Enquirer for $50 million. And the Enquirer ended up settling for an undisclosed amount with him. And they issued a full page retraction slash apology in the New York Times crazy. The writer said they were duped by a very convincing performance from a guy claiming to be cat's weight. So the New York Times printed this the National Enquirer okay, then after the National Enquirer settled the lawsuit with David bio cats, they issued an apology in the New York. Oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. That makes sense, though. Yeah. And I love what another media is like, Hey, we're gonna use the actual media now. Yeah. Exactly. In our own editorial or our own op ed, because no one's gonna believe we're gonna use a reputable source for this one. Yeah. Well, the National Enquirer like obviously, like my mom would take that as legitimate you know, journalism. But if you want to know if Kirstie Alley was fat again, yeah, it was very reliable. erotica, ha Hargitay his new alien baby. Yeah. Or John Edwards affair. Yeah, exactly. Other than that, though, but Trump thought it was like a very reputable so Oh, well. It was bought by some other people and they endorsed Trump. Yeah. During the election. That's, that's when it really went downhill. Yeah, this retracts and that was nothing. Yeah. So David Bearcats, who has a wife actually and kids, my wife wasn't gay, not that there's anything wrong with it. But the bar he resented was that he would have said that he witnessed you know, the freebasing cocaine. Yeah. And he used the money from the settlement to start the American playwriting Foundation in honor of Hoffman. Since 2015. It has offered annual grants to new American plays. And they call it the relentless award because Hoffman was always in a relentless search for the truth in his art. Well, so that's a nice thing. Yeah, they're nice. By the way, that inquiry story ran a couple days after the death. I mean, it was really inappropriate. Yeah, it's center moment. It's so crazy how quickly that controversy. Controversy happened. And it's literally like two or three days later, the drug dealers are actually in court. Like it just all happened so fast. And the people that gathered around the apartment when word spread, it was a huge thing. Let's not forget, it was Super Bowl Sunday, New York City. Yeah. The city was abuzz that weekend. The Howard Stern 60th Birthday Bash had taken place on Friday. Yeah. Which took advantage of the Super Bowl crowd like all the celebrities, like Harvey Weinstein, were there. No joke? No, I'm sure he was like front and center. The city was like in shock here. Yes. Yeah. So it was huge news. So the I in some ways I could see like, where they have to fast track these things, you know? Yeah. Yeah, that's so crazy. He died on the day of the Super Bowl in the city that the Super Bowl is happening. Yeah, that's and that that the Jets were in it, but it is the stadium and he was a lifelong Jets fan. Yeah, he probably would have been into the Super Bowl. And in fact, he had texted David by cats the night before his death after the bar, saying, Hey, want to kiss me. I'm touching myself. What are you doing? Oh, it's saying that, hey, you want to watch the game tomorrow, you know, trying to make plans and when cats texted back, there was no response.

(Cont.) Episode 70 - Philip Seymour Hoffman: The Actor's Struggle