Matt Damon took a break from laughing about George Clooney’s Tina Fey and Amy Poehler prank on “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Wednesday to address the loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who he believes was “one of the best actors to ever live.”
“He was the best. He was incredible,” Damon said (above) of his “Talented Mr. Ripley” co-star. “He was a very special guy, and one of the best actors to ever live, I think. And that scene that I did with him in that movie was the best time I think I’ve ever had. Just in terms of being with someone who was so locked in. It was just awesome. And he was an even better guy, so it really sucks.”
Also read: Aaron Sorkin on Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death: 10 Other People Who Were About to Die Won’t
Hoffman passed away on Sunday in New York after a suspected heroin overdose. An official cause of death has yet to be determined, however, because results of the first autopsy were inclusive. Further tests will be required, the medical examiner told TheWrap, but those could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
See photos: 22 of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Most Memorable Movie Roles (Photos)
Damon said he last saw the 46-year-old actor when he took his oldest child to the “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” premiere in Los Angeles last year, and had dinner with him in Berlin last year where Hoffman was visiting at the same time Damon was shooting “Monuments Men.”
Also read: Philip Seymour Hoffman Death: 5 Projects the Actor Had In the Works
Damon said Hoffman’s “body of work” didn’t suggest he had any substance abuse issues, and his struggle with addiction wasn’t apparent in their private encounters, either.
“He went into rehab after I had dinner with him a month later, and I was as shocked as anybody to read about it,” Damon said. “So it wasn’t the kind of thing that I could see.”