Ellen Burstyn and Philip Seymour Hoffman.Photo:Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
Ellen Burstynis remembering the latePhilip Seymour Hoffman— as an actor, director and longtime friend — ten years after his death.
“Philip directed me in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s play,The Little Flower of East Orange, at the Public Theatre back in 2008,” Burstyn, 91, recalls to PEOPLE exclusively.
“We became friends, and he and his family used to spend holidays at my house; pool parties, picnics, and barbecues.”
While many of Hoffman’s colleagues and friends have praised his acting abilities throughout the years, Burstyn tells PEOPLE “he was as talented a director” and overall a “monumental” talent.
“He was a wonderful and caring father to his three children, and I’m so sad that he got back into drugs after being drug-free for so many years,” theExorciststar adds. “It’s a terrible tragedy and a great loss, not only to his family but also to the theater and film worlds.”
Before that off-Broadway production of Guirgis’ drama, which costarred Michael Shannon, Liza Colón-Zayas and Gillian Jacobs, Burstyn and Hoffman had appeared together in two screen projects: the 1994Meg Ryanand Andy García movieWhen a Man Loves a Womanand 2002’sAnthony HopkinsthrillerRed Dragon.
Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2013.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty
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Burstyn was among theattendees of Hoffman’s funeralin New York City days after his death. Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Spike Lee, Marisa Tomei, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams also gathered to mourn their friend and colleague.
The Rochester, New York-born Hoffman, who began his career in theater, earned three Broadway credits onstage:True Westin 2000,Long Day’s Journey Into Nightin 2003 andDeath of a Salesmanin 2012. He notched Tony Award nominations for all three.
TheCapoteOscar winner’s directing work included the 2010 romantic dramaJack Goes Boating, in which he also starred opposite Amy Ryan.
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mimi O’Donnell.J. Vespa/WireImage
J. Vespa/WireImage
Not long before his death, Hoffmanrevealedthat 23 years of sobriety had ended when he fell into heroin addiction after first using prescription drugs. He spoke frankly about his struggles with addiction, tellingThe Guardianin 2011, “I had no interest in drinking in moderation. And I still don’t. Just because all that time’s passed doesn’t mean maybe it was just a phase. That’s who I am.”
In a 2017essay forVogue, O’Donnell reflected on her loss. “It happened so quickly. Phil came home from Atlanta, and I called a few people and said that we needed to keep an eye on him. Then he started using again, and three days later he was dead,” shewrote.
“The kids and I are still in a place where that fact is there every day. We talk about him constantly, only now we can talk about him without instantly crying… We can talk about him in a way that feels as though there’s a remembrance of what happened to him, but that also honors him.”
source: people.com
