Among the guests there are present Ethan Hawke, Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee and Louis C. K.

Feb 7, 2014 20:27 GMT  ·  By

The funeral of recently deceased Hollywood actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is under way, and a reported 400 people have shown up for the proceedings that are taking place as we speak.

TMZ reports that among the people that have gathered to see the late actor on his final journey are some of his famous friends. These include actors Ethan Hawke and Cate Blanchett, director Spike Lee, as well as Louis C. K. and Ellen Burstyn.

The funeral is a private affair and it’s taking place at the Church of Saint Ignatius in New York City. The place is also known as the church where the funerals of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Aaliyah were held.

The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman was discovered by his personal assistant and one of his close friends, playwright David Bar Katz. They got worried when he didn’t show up to collect his kids and went searching for him.

He was found in the bathroom of his New York City apartment. The police say that he was lying in the bathroom, dressed in boxer shorts and with a needle sticking out of his left arm, which led law enforcement officers to think his death was caused by an accidental overdose.

An additional search of the apartment revealed a large number of cocaine packs. An autopsy was performed on his body, but the preliminary results were inconclusive, requiring additional tests to be done.

The police have also made arrests in the case of his death, taking into custody 4 people suspected to be drug dealers of a particularly strong strain of heroin that also happens to be responsible for 22 other deaths along the East Coast.

Though it was initially announced that the 4 arrests had nothing to do with the Hoffman case, one of the suspects had the actor’s number stored in his phone, leading to suspicions they were somehow connected.

Hoffman is survived by his longtime partner, Mimi O’Donnell, and his 3 young children. A larger memorial service was announced for later this month.