Philip Seymour Hoffman Weeks Before His Death: ‘I’m A Heroin Addict’

Philip Seymour Hoffman made a shocking and candid confession to a stranger weeks before he was found dead.

Two weeks before he was found in his Manhattan apartment with a needle in his left arm, the 46-year-old Academy award-winning actor had a chance meeting with Washing Life magazine’s John Arundel at the Sundance Film Festival.

“It was very tragic. I was at one of those late night Sundance parties. I had met Philip Seymour Hoffman at Cannes and a previous Sundance, [but], I didn’t recognize him. He had a floppy hat on and he looked pasty faced and just didn’t look good at all,” Arundel recounted to Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Tuesday’s Access Hollywood Live.

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“And when I didn’t recognize him, he was sort of shocked about that. I said, ‘Well, what do you do?’ And he said, ‘I’m a heroin addict,’ and I was taken aback by that,” John continued. “And he took off his hat and I said, ‘Oh, you’re Philip Seymour Hoffman,’ one of my favorite actors, and he said, ‘Bingo.’ And as he was walking off he said, ‘I just came out of rehab.’”

A colleague of Arundel’s also spoke with the Oscar winner at Sundance, where Hoffman appeared to be excited about his upcoming projects.

“He had been talking so upbeat about ‘The Hunger Games’ … and how much he’d enjoyed making that … and he was talking about all the great things he’d been doing lately,” he recounted.

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Adding, “It was just so sad. I’m such an admirer of his work.”

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Hoffman was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday.

He won an Academy award in 2005 for his performance in “Capote.”

The actor was currently playing Plutarch Heavensbee in “The Hunger Games” franchise. As for how Hoffman’s passing will affect the upcoming two-part “Mockingay” movies, Access Hollywood has learned Hoffman’s work in “Mockingjay – Part 1” was substantially complete, and that he had seven shooting days remaining on “Part 2.”

— Jesse Spero