Report: Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, Has Died

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, was found dead in his New York City apartment this afternoon.

The report states: "The New York Police Department is investigating, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine exact cause of death."

The actor won an Academy Award for his performance in Capote, and was nominated three more times, for Charlie Wilson's War, Doubt, and, most recently, for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master.

UPDATE 1: Added commentary below.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was the quietest giant in independent cinema. He'd almost effortlessly take over a film be it in the form of a quirky character part or as the lead in a series of compelling and often challenging works.

For years, I'd know him as "that guy," the rounded guy who was in the van in Twister, discussing Nancy Reagan in The Big Lebowski, or wearing a truly horrific muscle shirt in Boogie Nights. He made opaque independent classics like Synecdoche, New York, and blockbusters like Mission: Impossible III or The Hunger Games.

He had two films at this year's Sundance film festival -- John Slattery's God's Pocket, and Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man. I missed the former, but in the latter he played the role of the sad-sack German spy with the kind of eloquent dishevelment that he was best known for. Chainsmoking throughout the film, he came across as world weary yet piercingly intelligent, something that the majority of his characters would convey.

This is a great loss, not only to fans of independent cinema, but for those of us who would see him around various film festivals, taking times for fans and critics alike.

UPDATE 2: Added video w/further commentary.

Peter Martin contributed to this story.