Philip Seymour Hoffman was cast in the role of Plutarch Heavensbee for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and would play a significant role in the rest of the franchise, ending with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Plutarch Heavensbee is a fascinating character, as audiences are introduced to him as the Head Gamemaker for the 75th Hunger Games, but it is revealed that he helped orchestrate the escape of Katniss to District 13 towards the end of Catching Fire, working within that district to eventually help take down the Capitol.

Hoffman’s immense talent brought Plutarch vividly to life and the character’s relationship with Katniss was compelling to watch evolve over the course of the final three movies. It is one of the finest performances in the entire franchise. Towards the end of the series, though, tragedy struck and director Francis Lawrence had to make some tough decisions regarding Plutarch Heavensbee.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman Died Before Filming Wrapped

There Were Still A Few Plutarch Heavensbee Scenes To Shoot

On February 2, 2014, Philip Seymour Hoffman tragically pᴀssed away, leaving behind an enduring legacy as one of the best actors of all time. At the time of his death, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was still being filmed. Although it was close to the end of the production, there were still a few scenes left for Hoffman’s Plutarch Heavensbee, and they needed to figure out a way to work around that tragedy. With a lot of studios opting to go the more cutting-edge route, Mockingjay – Part 2 went for something a lot simpler.

How Mockingjay Part 2 Kept Hoffman’s Final Scene Without CGI

The Filmmakers Had Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Read Katniss A Letter From Hoffman’s Plutarch

Filmmaking is at a period in time where studios are content with doing CGI recreations of actors who are no longer alive, or have grown much older than the characters they once portrayed. For most of them, they don’t look that great, and for others, it can feel disrespectful to “bring them back to life” in some sort of way just to portray a character they once played. When Philip Seymour Hoffman died, there was still a pivotal scene left for Plutarch and Katniss, but instead of using CGI, the filmmakers decided on something else entirely.

Following the scene where Katniss kills President Coin, Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch goes to talk to her, reading to her a letter that Plutarch wrote. This is a significant change because, in the book, Plutarch is the one to actually go and talk to Katniss. Given the circumstances, though, the filmmakers decided that they would change it to Haymitch reading her a letter from Plutarch instead of a CGI recreation of Hoffman.

Why It Was The Right Choice For Mockingjay Part 2

The Letter Kept Plutarch & Katniss’ Relationship Central To The Scene While Still Respecting Hoffman

There is a lot of discourse about whether going the CGI route for characters’ performances is the right move or not, but for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, they made the right choice completely. Not only would it have been distracting, given that 2015 technology wasn’t close to what it is now, but it would have dampened a lot of the emotional heft the scene would have. Having Haymitch be the one to talk to Katniss just reaffirms the bond the two built across the series, while still keeping Plutarch’s word at the forefront.

Of course, it would also be impossible for them to ever match the type of performance that Philip Seymour Hoffman would have given in that scene. The decision helped make the ending of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 much stronger. Director Francis Lawrence thought the same, and in an interview with HuffPost Live, he opened up about the decision to go with a letter rather than CGI, stating:

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… I just think this was the best way to be able to get around such a horrible thing.