‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ Director Thinks About Philip Seymour Hoffman ‘Every Day’
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay director Francis Lawrence recently opened up about the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The acclaimed actor was found dead in his New York City apartment on February 2 after overdosing on drugs. Although he had filmed the majority of his scenes for the Mockingjay, there was still a major scene that was left unfinished.
Lawrence, who also directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, recently opened up about Hoffman’s death during a chat with USA Today. According to the filmmaker, there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t think about his friend.
“It was obviously very rough for all of us. He was a friend. He was an amazing actor, an iconic actor. He was someone I really looked up to,” the director explained.
He continued, “We as a cast and crew definitely honored him. We gathered everyone together and had a big moment for him. We still think about him every day. It’s hard not to imagine him being here. It’s something so sudden, so shocking.”
While the actor had finished most of his work on The Hunger Games movies, Lawrence admitted there were a few sequences left undone. Without giving away and major details, the filmmaker said the producers are still “figuring things out” regarding Hoffman’s absence.
According to PRI, Lawrence and his crew are secretly creating a digital version of the late actor to complete his scenes in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. This process is similar to how director Joseph Kosinski crafted a younger version of Jeff Bridges for TRON: Legacy. Since people often make fun of that sequence, Digital Domains’ Steve Preeg said the filmmakers will need to proceed with caution.
“Anything that is even slightly wrong with it, causes a dip into what is known as the ‘uncanny valley,’ which is a horrible place where when something gets close to human looking, but doesn’t quite make it, it actually becomes repulsive,” Preeg told the publication.
Regardless of how Lawrence chooses to address the problem, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is still slated to arrive in theaters on November 21. Although there’s a chance that a digital version of Hoffman could fill in for the actor, neither Summit Entertainment nor the director have officially discussed the matter as of this writing.
Are you looking forward to the next installment of The Hunger Games? Do you think the filmmakers will use a digital version of Philip Seymour Hoffman to complete the film?
