The show must go on. Even though George Clooney was in New York City last night in order to promote his new film, The Monuments Men, the 52-year-old actor couldn’t help but think about his friend Philip Seymour Hoffman. The city itself, the place where Hoffman called home, was a painful reminder to Clooney.

Clooney needed to pay homage to the great actor who died of an apparent heroin overdose on Sunday at the age of 46, before he said anything about the upcoming release of his film. In front of an audience at Manhattan’s Ziegfeld Theatre, Clooney admitted how Seymour’s death weighed on him. “I wanted to start by saying it’s very odd to be here in New York, particularly a couple of days after a good friend of ours has passed away. It makes it difficult, and I think it’s the elephant in the room for a lot of us here.”

The two friends starred together in the political thriller The Ides of March. Clooney added, “It’s senseless and it’s sad, but he will be greatly missed. Phil will be greatly missed. It’s hard to be here tonight with that… weighing over us, but I wanted to say that.”

Hoffman’s death is a developing story. Four people were arrested on Tuesday night who are suspected to be linked to the heroin found in Hoffman’s apartment. Several bags of heroin were discovered in the Oscar winning actor’s New York City apartment with the labels “Ace of Spades” and “Ace of Hearts.”

Hoffman was found dead in his apartment with a needle sticking out of his arm. However, New York City’s chief medical examiner has not officially announced a cause of death as of Wednesday afternoon.

Phlip Seymour Hoffman is considered by many as one of the finest actors of his generation. He starred in both Hollywood films and Broadway productions. He won an Oscar for his spot-on performance of Truman Capote in the 2005 biopic titled Capote.

Image via Wikimedia Commons