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The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Remembering Oscar-winning actor and director Phillip Seymour Hoffman

I found out Philip Seymour Hoffman was dead while I was on the website Reddit.. In an extreme state of boredom I had decided to peruse the website even though I rarely use or fully understand it, and after checking out a couple lame Super Bowl memes I came across a post declaring the awful news.
My gut reaction was to think that this might be some kind of sick joke for hardcore Redditors that went over my head (it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened to me). Unfortunately, my gut was wrong. A quick Google search confirmed that 46-year-old Hoffman died of an apparent drug overdose in his apartment.
This is obviously tragic and shocking news considering how talented he was as an actor and a director. Hoffman starred in a couple films that have blown me away, the most notable of which being “Capote.” He definitely deserved the Academy Award that he won for playing the role of Truman Capote – the eccentric protagonist of the film and the author of the non-fiction novel that it centered upon. The careless, high-pitched warbling of Hoffman’s voice in that movie alone brought the story of “In Cold Blood” to life for me in a whole new way.
The last film I saw him in was “The Master.” I went to see it in theaters without any idea of what to expect and stepped outside afterward absolutely hating it. Certain scenes in that movie stuck with me, though, and the more I considered them the more I realized how great “The Master” was for all of its perfect little moments. Hoffman’s performance as the mysteriously placid character Lancaster Dodd played a big part in that realization, and “The Master” continues to get better each time I see it.
I think that was the best part about Hoffman’s acting as a whole. The level of depth he was able to put into all his characters allowed for us as viewers to get more out of his films each time we watched them. And he proved throughout his career with movies as disparate as “Doubt,” “The Big Lebowski,” “The Hunger Games” and “Almost Famous” that he could basically play any role.
It’s sad to lose him in such a terrible and unexpected way, especially during a time when there seems to be a shortage of truly great film actors at work. Thankfully, Hoffman will still be remembered for all the excellent work he did and the terrific talent he shared. After logging into Facebook and seeing how many people were already flooding my newsfeed with their favorite movie clips of him, it seems clear that Hoffman will not be forgotten anytime soon. Hoffman 1 final

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