For the first time, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay director Francis Lawrence is opening up about the passing of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who played Plutarch Heavensbee in the dystopian series.

Viewers first saw Hoffman as Heavensbee in Catching Fire late last year (the film hits DVD/Blu-ray today, March 7). The actor worked with Lawrence for his Hunger Games debut as well as the two-part finale Mockingjay.

In an interview with USA Today, Lawrence says that it was difficult to continue with work on Mockingjay in light of his death. “It was obviously very rough for all of us,” he said. “He was a friend. He was an amazing actor, an iconic actor. He was someone I really looked up to.”

Related: Catching Fire stars react to the death of Hoffman

The director says that they took a day off from filming to mourn his passing. “We shut down for a day to give people time to deal with the sudden shock of it all. And to try and sort of figure things out a little bit.”

When they returned to set, they paid their respects together. “We as a cast and crew definitely honored him. We gathered everyone together and had a big moment for him. We still think about him every day. It’s hard not to imagine him being here.”

The actor had finished most of his work prior to his passing, Lawrence says. “There was very, very little that was left. Even if (Hoffman) had a number of days left, most of those moments were appearances in other scenes. Most of his dialogue was done.”

Lawrence admitted that there will be a couple of scenes they’ll need to adjust because Hoffman wasn’t entirely finished.

Mockingjay – Part 1 opens in theaters this November, and the sequel will be out next November.