Following the untimely demise of Philip Seymour Hoffman back in February, many speculated on how his character would be portrayed in the upcoming two part finale of the Hunger Games film series. News spread during the months following his death that Hoffman completed most of his scenes for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and that a CGI replica of the late actor would replace him in the film. Now it seems director Francis Lawrence has had a change of heart.
“He had two scenes with dialogue that were left and we decided we didn’t want to try any digital trickery with him, so we rewrote his scenes and gave the dialogue to other actors,” Lawrence told HuffPost Live. “I just think to try to fake a Philip Seymour Hoffman performance would have been catastrophic and I would never want to do that.”
Hoffman’s unique acting style might’ve also played a role in the decision to not use CGI, as his acting style would’ve been hard to replicate. “He was constantly sort of grinding away at a scene and was able to dig down and down and down, deeper and really find the dynamics of the relationships that he’s in,” Lawrence explained. “And then once you’ve done that process then you don’t really need many takes at all with him.”
Watch the full interview here.
You can find Khari Clarke on Twitter (@KINGCLARKEIII).