Het overlijden van Philip Seymour Hoffman is bij velen aangekomen als een mokerslag. Nu, drie dagen na het vreselijke nieuws, beginnen de eerste odes aan de acteur tevoorschijn te komen. Een daarvan komt van regisseur Cameron Crowe, met wie Hoffman werkte aan het muziekdrama Almost Famous (2000). Crowe schreef het volgende op zijn website:

My original take on this scene was a loud, late night pronouncement from Lester Bangs. A call to arms. In Phil’s hands it became something different. A scene about quiet truths shared between two guys, both at the crossroads, both hurting, and both up too late. It became the soul of the movie. In between takes, Hoffman spoke to no one. He listened only to his headset, only to the words of Lester himself. (His Walkman was filled with rare Lester interviews.) When the scene was over, I realized that Hoffman had pulled off a magic trick. He’d leapt over the words and the script, and gone hunting for the soul and compassion of the private Lester, the one only a few of us had ever met. Suddenly the portrait was complete. The crew and I will always be grateful for that front row seat to his genius.

Hieronder de scène waarnaar Crowe refereert: