Famous film critic Roger Ebert expressed a wish to be played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in a biopic, Ebert's widow revealed Monday night.
Chaz Ebert told an audience on Monday night that her late husband greatly admired the recently-deceased Hoffman, according to Indiewire. The revelation took place when she spoke to the audience after a screening of the new documentary Life Itself based on Ebert's life.
"Yesterday was hard when I heard about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death... Roger would say, 'He is one of the best, most versatile actors ever.' And he also was a brilliant man, you know, human being, just very smart," Ebert said. "And so Roger always said, 'If you ever do a movie, where you need someone to play me, I want Philip Seymour Hoffman.'"
The NY Post reports that Ebert had been talking about it as recently as last month's Sundance Film Festival where the documentary, directed by Steve James, screened alongside Hoffman's film A Most Wanted Man. Still, Hoffman and Ebert's widow never got to see each other there.
The documentary "Life Itself" is due to air on CNN later this year, but it's undetermined as of now if it will have a theatrical run.
Image: Wikimedia Commons