When Philip Seymour Hoffman died in February, he had filmed all but two of his scenes for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1 and Part 2. There was initially some speculation that the film makers might use CGI (computer generated imagery) as a means of recreating the late actor on the big screen. Director Francis Lawrence has revealed that he opted not to go that route, however.
“He had two scenes with dialogue that were left and we decided we didn’t want to try any kind of digital trickery with him, so we rewrote his scenes and gave his dialogue to other actors,” he said in a recent interview about Philip Seymour Hoffman’s role as Plutarch Heavensbee. “So there was one scene from ‘Part 1′ and one scene from ‘Part 2,’ so we shot both movies back to back.”
The director went on to say it would have been ‘disastrous’ to use technology like CGI to recreate such a talented actor’s performance.
“He was one of the greatest actors, I think, of all time and I just think to try to fake a Philip Seymour Hoffman performance would have been catastrophic and I would never want to do that,” he said. “I just think this was the best way to be able to get around such a horrible thing.”
#HungerGamesMockingjay director didn't use CGI for Philip Seymour Hoffman scenes http://t.co/0KiTRxer4W pic.twitter.com/qxTL2TfRDj
— Variety (@Variety) November 16, 2014
It will no doubt be bittersweet for those who worked directly with Philip Seymour Hoffman, as well as for his friends, family, and his fans–to see him on the big screen once again when The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1 hits theaters on November 21st, as well as when the second installment of the film premieres. While it will be amazing to once again see the actor in this role, it will be a sad reminder that he is gone in real life.
Do you think director Francis Lawrence made the right call by not allowing Philip Seymour Hoffman to be recreated on film by CGI?