‘Happyish’ is likely to be scrapped following the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The 46-year-old actor – who was found dead of an apparent drugs overdose at his New York home yesterday (02.02.14) – "drives every scene" in the pilot episode of the Showtime series, and with network bosses fighting a year to cast him in the show, it is unlikely it will be able to carry on without him.
A source told E! News: "It is hard to imagine a way in which it could go on. His role would have to be recast and there weren’t any other actors in serious consideration aside from Philip. If the show does move forward, the premiere would be delayed as pilot would need to be reshot."
Philip’s death comes just a few weeks after it was announced the network had picked up 10 episodes of the comedy-drama, in which he played ad agency executive Thom Payne who gets the "gift of insignificance" on his birthday, as well as a new boss.
Following the news of his death, Showtime paid tribute to his "fine and brilliant" talent.
The network released a statement saying: "Philip Seymour Hoffman was one of our generation’s finest and most brilliant actors. He was also a gifted comedic talent. It was a great privilege and pleasure to work with him and we are all absolutely devastated by this sudden loss. Our thoughts go out to his family at this very difficult time."
At the time of his death, the actor was working on ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and 2’, with just seven days of shooting on the second movie left to finish. His work as Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in the first movie was "substantially complete".
His passing will not affect the release of the movies, which are scheduled for November 2014 and 2015.
Happyish ‘unlikely’ to continue
