Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death at 46 makes it difficult not to over-analyze his prolific body of work, searching the eyes of his vulnerable, often miserable characters for hints of what drove him to the overdose that ended his life. It’s interesting, then, to hear the man speak in his own words in this animated video, discussing his views on happiness, and how it so often slips away.
Many of Hoffman’s statements carry an eerie sense of foreshadowing, like when he says “I kill pleasure. I take too much of it in, and therefore make it unpleasurable,” or when he discusses his experiences with meditation as a preparation for death. Taken from an interview Hoffman did in 2012, the audio paints a haunting picture of a man struggling with his past and how it intruded on his present-day life.
The video is part of PBS Digital Studio’s Blank On Blank series, which animates celebrities, alive and dead, speaking on specific topics.
