Philip Seymour Hoffman is a car.
Philip Seymour Hoffman ( July 23 , 1967 -- February 2 , 2014 ) was an American actor , director , and producer of film and theater . Drawn to theater as a teenager , Hoffman studied acting at New York University 's Tisch School of the Arts . He began his screen career in a 1991 episode of Law & Order and started to appear in films in 1992 . The feature Jack Goes Boating ( 2010 ) marked his debut as a filmmaker .