Philip Seymour Hoffman: Lord Rest His Soul

Perhaps the finest actor of my generation (IMHO), the Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead today in his New York City apartment.

Goddammit. Addiction is an awful disease.

My heart, and those of millions of other fans and those who knew and loved him best, felt shattered upon hearing the unexpected and tragic news.

As we mourn his death and celebrate his life, may we remember him in our prayers and especially lift up his children, Cooper, Tallulah, and Willa.

In 2005, Hoffman directed an off-Broadway production of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” for which our mutual friend, Father James Martin was the “theological dramaturge.” I was writing for the Chicago Sun-Times when Fr. Jim’s book, “A Jesuit Off Broadway,” came out and wrote about it in a column recounting the choice I had to make 25 years ago or so between acting and journalism. On this incredibly sad occasion of Philip’s untimely passing, I wanted to share a bit of it with all of you. May God rest his soul and comfort all those who loved him.

Ideally at least, both acting and journalism are all about chasing, uncovering and presenting what’s true. Both vocations do that in community — be it a metro news staff or a dinner theater troupe.

Some of the similarities are vividly explored in a marvelous new book by one of my favorite priests, the Rev. James Martin, about his experience as a “theological dramaturge” for the Public Theater production of the play “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” in New York two years ago.

Martin’s book, A Jesuit Off-Broadway, recounts the months he spent consulting on spiritual and biblical matters for the play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, directed by Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, and featuring actor Sam Rockwell as Judas.

Martin, author of last year’s best-seller, My Life With the Saints, is also a journalist. A onetime Chicagoan, he is an editor at America magazine in New York. In A Jesuit Off-Broadway, he tenderly records the play’s creation process from 10 pages of dialogue to a heralded five-week sold-out run.

Far from being an outsider, the priest is quickly adopted into the sometimes hard-partying, profane and deeply spiritual ensemble of actors that included Eric Bogosian in the role of Satan.

Along the way, Martin discovered a loving camaraderie among the cast of “Judas” that most churches would envy and learned lessons about his faith and his Lord that he hadn’t anticipated. One of the most poignant comes in a conversation with Hoffman about his gentle method of directing.

“Sometimes you have to tell someone exactly what you want,” Hoffman says, “but you can’t dictate. You have to keep suggesting. Otherwise the person becomes a sort of empty shell, they end up performing in a way that’s not, well, spiritual.”

This reminds the priest of someone else.

“His approach mirrored the way Jesus preached,” Martin writes. “Much of Jesus’ preaching involves inviting his listeners to consider something new. . . . Or, to use [Hoffman’s] words, Jesus was always suggesting, in order that the decision to follow or not to follow was that person’s own decision.”