WIDOW OF RODGER EBERT CONFIRMS HE WANTED PHILLP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN TO PLAY HIM

Roger Ebert’s widow Chaz says he wanted Philip Seymour Hoffman to play him in any movie about him, Bill Zwecker writes.

The New York Post quoted Chaz Ebert at the Big Apple screening on Monday of “Life Itself,” the new documentary about her late husband, as saying, “Roger always said, ‘If you ever do a movie where you need someone to play me, I want Philip Seymour Hoffman. He’s one of the most versatile actors ever, and he also was a brilliant man, human being — just very smart,” Ebert told the audience at the screening. Ebert also said she had shared those thoughts last month at the Sundance Film Festival where the Steve James-directed documentary screened — as did Hoffman’s new film, “A Most Wanted Man.”