Francis Lawrence has revealed that no CGI trickery was used to complete the performance of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the final two Hunger Games movies.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Hoffman passed away earlier this year, during the filming of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, but only had two scenes left to film.
Instead of trying to use technology to complete the performance, Lawrence has revealed that they have made the role of Plutarch Heavensbee smaller and has given dialogue to other characters.
Speaking to The Huffington Post, the director said: "He was one of the greatest actors, I think, of all time and I just think to try to fake a Philip Seymour Hoffman performance would have been catastrophic and I would never want to do that."
"He had two scenes with dialogue that were left, and we decided we didn't want to try any kind of digital trickery with him. So we rewrote his scenes and gave his dialogue to other actors. I just think this was the best way to be able to get around such a horrible thing."
Hoffman was introduced as Heavensbee in Catching Fire last year, and will be back in the role later this week when Mockingjay - Part 1 hits the big screen.
Heavensbee is a character that features more heavily in the final book in The Hunger Games series, and it is great news to know that Hoffman had completed most of his work before he sadly passed away.
Mockingjay - Part 1 sees Lawrence back in the director's chair, and will stay with the franchise until the end. Lawrence took over the helm with Catching Fire, and has steered the popular adaptation to even more box office success.
Hoffman is not the only familiar face on the cast list of Mockingjay - Part 1, as Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Sam Claflin are some of the other names that will be returning.
Mockingjay - Part 1 is one of the most anticipated films of 2014, and is set to be one of the biggest movies at the box office this year. The Hunger Games - Mockingjay - Part 1 is released 20th November.
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