And as I sit here almost a week after Phil Hoffman's passing, having read the many posts from friends mourning the loss and highlighting his goodness and his talent and his art I realize- what makes Phillip Seymour Hoffman such a loss to people such as myself who didn't have a relationship with him, is that he did not shy away from showing humanity at it's deepest most desperate core. He made us see ourselves, identify with his characters, feel his struggles. He was in a sense, naked.
New York has been a weird place to be this week. I belong to a writing group many members of which are members of the LABryrinth Theater. Almost every actor I know it seems is devastated if not because they worked with him then because they were friends or because they simply admired his art. I spoke to a client's wife last night who told me the client, Clark, was close with Phil and had been a mess and while she had not known him personally she had been crying all week. The loss has been taken hard. I swear I can feel it palpable in the air.
My only personal memory of Phil is a silly one but of course I can't help but remember it now. I met him back in LA about 15 years ago. I was with John Ortiz (Co-Founder of the LAB) and Javi Mulero at El Coyote Cafe in Los Angeles. Phil was friends with them so he joined us for dinner.
I remember sitting next to him being so intimidated even then. He was one of the most riveting actors I'd ever seen and I sat there wondering how this very regular joe just hanging out at the Mexican restaurant produced such genius. I don't remember what we all spoke about that night but if I had to assign one word to my memory of him from that brief encounter it would be humble. He came across as very humble and very kind.
I could go on and on as most of us I suspect could so I will leave this with a quote I came across recently in an interview Phillip did with The Rubin Museum of Art. If you have the time this is a great one. The subject is happiness.
New York has been a weird place to be this week. I belong to a writing group many members of which are members of the LABryrinth Theater. Almost every actor I know it seems is devastated if not because they worked with him then because they were friends or because they simply admired his art. I spoke to a client's wife last night who told me the client, Clark, was close with Phil and had been a mess and while she had not known him personally she had been crying all week. The loss has been taken hard. I swear I can feel it palpable in the air.
My only personal memory of Phil is a silly one but of course I can't help but remember it now. I met him back in LA about 15 years ago. I was with John Ortiz (Co-Founder of the LAB) and Javi Mulero at El Coyote Cafe in Los Angeles. Phil was friends with them so he joined us for dinner.
I remember sitting next to him being so intimidated even then. He was one of the most riveting actors I'd ever seen and I sat there wondering how this very regular joe just hanging out at the Mexican restaurant produced such genius. I don't remember what we all spoke about that night but if I had to assign one word to my memory of him from that brief encounter it would be humble. He came across as very humble and very kind.
I could go on and on as most of us I suspect could so I will leave this with a quote I came across recently in an interview Phillip did with The Rubin Museum of Art. If you have the time this is a great one. The subject is happiness.
"If I don't allow people to somehow identify with the worst inside themselves they never have a chance at actually walking out with that person in their heart or in their minds. They're too easy to dismiss."
Phillip Seymour Hoffman