Actors Dustin Hoffman and Philip Seymour Hoffman never worked together but they shared more than a surname and an occupation—they were both Oscar winners who happened to have starred in Broadway productions of Death of a Salesman 28 years apart. And this week the latter paid homage to the recently deceased Philip Seymour Hoffman during a discussion at Fairfield University.

While taking part in a Q&A on the Connecticut campus, where he will be filming the movie Boychoir later this month, Hoffman was asked about the actor. The exchange, per The Hartford Courant:'

“I feel bad about it,” he said.

Dustin Hoffman said he met Philip Seymour Hoffman after being impressed by his performance in Capote, the 2005 biopic that won Philip Seymour Hoffman a best actor Oscar. Dustin Hoffman spoke out about how the late actor is being judged harshly since his death this month by heroin overdose.

“Substance abuse is an illness. It’s a need to self-medicate. And unfortunately for whatever reasons they don’t get help that they need to get so they do their own self-medicating,” Dustin Hoffman said, choking up. “I think if I had to guess ... I would guess that he didn't feel deep down that he deserved his talent.”

In lighter conversation topics, Hoffman talked about his appreciation for “the Google” and for Lena Dunham, whom he called, “an unconventional woman who can be beautiful by bringing out what’s inside of her.”