Viola Davis Pays Tribute To Philip Seymour Hoffman 8 Years After His Passing

Viola Davis honored the life of Philip Seymour Hoffman, two years short of a decade since he tragically passed away.

The two actors co-starred in "Doubt" in 2008 which earned them and their co-stars Meryl Streep and Amy Adams an Academy Award nomination.

The "How To Get Away With Murder" lead showed that though her friend is no longer here, he remains in her heart.

On Thursday, February 3, Davis took to Instagram to honor Hoffman's memory, a day after the anniversary of his untimely passing eight years ago.

The "Black Panther" actress uploaded a portrait of the three-time Tony Award nominee smiling warmly to the camera in casual attire.

Davis captioned the photo with a message to her late friend that she did not forget about him. She wrote, "You are missed. Love you Philip ❤".

On February 2, 2014, Hoffman was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his apartment in New York according to CNN.

When the "Capote" actor did not show up at his children's school to pick them up, Playwright David Katz and another friend went to his rental residence and discovered him dead.

Authorities met Hoffman wearing his eyeglasses while dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. He had a needle in his left arm and lost his life due to acute mixed drug intoxication. 

According to a medical examiner, the "Too Young To Die" actor ingested a mix including benzodiazepines, heroin, amphetamine, and cocaine.

Hoffman's passing was not a suicide attempt as the medical examiner's office declared it an accident. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explained that addicts chronically mix drugs without noticing the detrimental effect.

Though they may not feel it happening, addicts injure their respiratory system when they mix drugs. Gupta added:

"They're not feeling it, but it's still having an impact on their ability to breathe, and that's the real problem. It's called stacking."

The doctor noted that addicts could stack the same drug too close together or one top of the other, which is how they land into the trouble of accidental death. 

Police found almost 50 "Ace of Spades" envelopes packed with what they believe to be heroin in Hoffman's Manhattan apartment. 

The Academy Award winner for Best Actor was also in possession of empty bags of substances, used syringes, and prescription medication. 

Hoffman would have clocked 51 on July 23 if not for his unfortunate passing at 46. In honor of his posthumous birthday, PEOPLE recounted his last days.

The renowned actor lived in the West Village neighborhood, downtown Manhattan. He was a doting father to his three children, Cooper, 10, Tallulah, 7, and Willa, 5, who he shared with his longtime girlfriend, Mimi O’Donnell.

Locals in Hoffman's neighborhood called him troubled. One of them noted:

“He’d go over to Oliver’s restaurant with his son Cooper. They’d have lunch, and you’d see them talking and laughing for hours at a time. Then, come nightfall, you’d see Phil back at Oliver’s, hunched over the bar, alone, looking like an entirely different man. He looked very dark and depressed.”

An eye-witness saw Hoffman so drunk after nights out that residents had to help him into his building. Regardless, his friend David Katz noted he was "clean and sober, his old self,” days before his passing.

The "Twister" actor previously admitted that after 23 years of sobriety, he became addicted to heroin from prescription drug use and had to go to a 10-day detox program.

Hoffman remains remembered as a supportive friend and, in the words of Matthew Warchus, "a really bright person, a family man who made so many good choices."

Black History Month runs from February 1 to March 1, and "The Woman King" actress offered her insight to US Magazine on how people can make the best of the period with movie and book recommendations.

Davis suggested Donald Glover's FX dramedy "Atlanta" because she finds it remarkable that the show "really enraptures, entertains, and evolves the thinking about a city."

Davis also offered the "Wild Seed" novel by Octavia E. Butler’s which she is adapting into an amazon movie under her company, JuVee Productions.

The Oscar winner recommended "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome" by Joy DeGruy and, lastly, her memoir, "Finding Me," launching in April.