Ethan Hawke is still haunted by the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman because the recovering addict was taking his sobriety "seriously".
The Oscar-winning actor had battled drug addiction in his early life but he had been sober for 23 years aside from one relapse in 2012 and another in 2024 which cost him his life, and his longtime pal Hawke admits he's still devastated by the tragedy 11 years later.
Hawke told the Guardian newspaper: "To understand Phil, you have to understand how many days he beat addiction. Phil had a problem. He lost one day.
"But he won all the other days, for twentysomething-odd years.
"I don’t want to say that he had no agency in his death. But it was a difficult period and he was taking [his sobriety] seriously.
"He was on his way to a meeting [on the day that he died] And I know other talented people – less famous – who have been lost the same way."
Hoffman was 46 when he passed away in 2014 with officials later ruling his death an accident caused by "acute mixed drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine".
The later actor's son Cooper Hoffman, 22, has since followed his father into the acting business starring in Paul Thomas Anderson's film Licorice Pizza and Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk.
Cooper previously admitted he wishes his dad was still around to offer him advice about his acting.
He told GQ: “He’s my favourite actor, but he’s also my dad. He’s also not here. A lot of people idolise their parents because they’re great parents.
"It’s a different thing to idolise your parent because you love their art."
He continued: “I get to figure this out on my own. But also, I would love his advice. And I would also just love my dad."
One job that he would have appreciated his father's advice on was when he made his Off-Broadway debut earlier this year.
He admitted: “I was like, I’m so ill-prepared for this. The only person I really wanted to talk to was my dad ... As much as I would love him to be here and talk to him about acting, I also would be terrified to have him see my stuff and judge my stuff.
"Not that he would judge it, because he was a very empathetic person, and he would probably - hopefully - hold my hand through all of it."
