Philip Seymour Hoffman Death Causes ‘Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ Production Shutdown – Director Francis Lawrence Refuses To Use CGI Following Actor’s Drug Overdose [VIDEOS]

Back in February of this year, the entertainment industry lost a powerhouse of talent in Philip Seymour Hoffman when he died from a drug mix and overdose. The actor, who had appeared in one of the previous Hunger Games films (Catching Fire), was reportedly filming scenes for Mockingjay and had just two left –– both of which included dialogue for the two-part film. His death left director Francis Lawrence not only saddened, but also at a loss for what to do. It's now being reported that the director refused to use CGI to replace Hoffman, opting to rewrite his scenes instead, after shutting down production for a little bit.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Lawrence chose to rewrite the scenes featuring Plutarch (Hoffman's character), calling it an "easy decision" because he considered the actor "one of the best actors of all time."

Lawrence spoke with the Huffington Post, saying, "I just think to try to fake a Philip Seymour Hoffman performance would have been catastrophic and I would never want to do that."

Back when the actor died, the film crew actually shut down production for a while to figure out what to do with Hoffman's role, aside from grieving, of course. "We started pretty quietly. We just did some scenes with Jen [Lawrence] and Liam [Hemsworth]. We did some really short days and eased back in."

Check out a portion of Lawrence's interview with HuffPost Live below:

So, how did they redo the scenes? It was rather simple. The crew opted to rewrite the scenes with Hoffman's dialogue and merely give his lines to another actor in the film.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 comes out this Friday, Nov. 21. Watch the trailer for the forthcoming film below: