Drugs had come back to haunt Hoffman, says Brendan Cowell

AUSTRALIAN actor Brendan Cowell spoke to Philip Seymour Hoffman about his struggle with substance abuse.

Brendan Cowell and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Sydney.

AUSTRALIAN actor Brendan Cowell says he spoke to Philip Seymour Hoffman about his struggle with substance abuse and emailed the Oscar-winning actor when he went into rehab last May.

Cowell says the death of the Truman Capote star in New York from what police say was an apparent drug overdose has taken him aback and he described it as "bloody tragic on so many levels.''

Cowell performed in the 2010 Sydney Theatre Company production of True West, which Hoffman directed.

"He had his three kids with him and his wife and he was going for jogs in the morning and loving the beach, he looked like a very happy man,'' Cowell told ABC radio.

"I talked to him a bit about substance abuse and he'd given away the drink at 21.

"Last May he went into rehab and I emailed him then, so clearly it had come back to haunt him.''

Cowell said Hoffman was an incredibly intense man who approached acting with vigour and intensity.

"I've never met anyone who takes acting so seriously,'' he said.

"He kind of pushed me to a level I'd never been pushed before as a director.''

The US actor directed Andrew Upton's play Riflemind in Sydney and in London.

The STC artistic director described Hoffman as an incredible man.

"(He was) a generous and true spirit,'' Upton says. "The loss is extraordinary.''

Hoffman also voiced Max in Australian director Adam Elliot's stop-motion animation film, Mary and Max.

"It was a hard character to pitch to him because, you know, my lead character Max is a very overweight, Jewish atheist with Asperger's syndrome,'' Elliot told ABC Radio.

He says he didn't have much time to rehearse with Hoffman.

"He was like Meryl Streep, he was a real chameleon and could just get the character so quickly and he was so authentic too.''

Russell Crowe described Hoffman as a gentleman.

"I have just heard about Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of natures Gentlemen. Rest in peace. Love and respect,'' he tweeted on Monday.

Sam Neil also tweeted that he was "shocked and very sad to hear about the great PhilipSeymourHoffman''.

Mia Farrow, Jim Carrey and Elijah Wood were also among the many stars who paid tribute to Hoffman.

Mia Farrow said: "OH NO ! Philip Seymour Hoffman has died. A truly kind, wonderful man and one of our greatest actors - ever.''

Jim Carrey added: "Dear Philip, a beautiful beautiful soul. For the most sensitive among us the noise can be too much. Bless your heart.''

Hoffman's Ides of March co-star Evan Rachel Wood, expressed her sadness on Twitter.com, writing, "I am sad on so many levels about the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman. One of the greats. Losing him this way is absolutely tragic.''

Shocked by the news, Elijah Wood adds, "heartbroken and shocked. what a true loss. rest in peace, Philip Seymour Hoffman''.

Other tributes have come from Steve Martin, Ricky Gervais, Aaron Paul, Rose McGowan, Justin Timberlake, Minnie Driver, Octavia Spencer, Anna Kendrick and Lena Dunham, who tweets, "Beautiful beautiful man. We have lost so much joy to something so joyless. RIP PSH.''

Meanwhile, Val Kilmer added: "Blu (sic) day, Philip Seymour Hoffman od'd (overdosed). Addiction comes fr (from) trying to escape the pain of living. We all struggle with this but Drugs never help.

Seymour Hoffman, who won a best actor Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in Capote and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures, died on Sunday. He was 46.

The actor had suffered an "apparent drug overdose'', the New York Police Department said.

Agencies