Zach Braff Shares Tribute to Longtime Manager, Best Friend Chris Huvane: “The Suffering Is Over”
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Zach Braff has responded to the death of Chris Huvane, his longtime manager and best friend who died of an apparent suicide.
The actor and filmmaker shared an emotional post on Instagram today, revealing that he “tried and tried” to help Huvane in his years-long battle with depression.
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“Each time I thought my pep-talk or idea for a new regimen might make a difference. He was so beloved in this town, so many others did the same,” he wrote. “I promise you, you could not have met a better man. Those of us left behind can’t help but think of what else we could have done. What if I’d moved in with him? What if I’d said this or that? My mom (a psychologist) said something that brings tears to my eyes even as I type this. She said, ‘Those he left behind have to suffer, but Chris’ suffering is finally over.'”
Huvane’s death was confirmed Monday by Management 360, where he worked as a partner, managing the careers of a long list of stars including Braff, Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, Jensen Ackles, Tom Hopper, Chris Messina, Henry Winkler, Travis Fimmel, Zoey Deutch, Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Gillies, the late Chadwick Boseman, among many others. Braff’s sentiment about Huvane being beloved was shared widely and universally across the industry in the wake of his passing. Tributes continue to pour in over social media that prove just how many people knew and loved the native New Yorker, who died at 47.
Huvane hailed from a family of high-profile brothers that included CAA’s Kevin Huvane, a talent agent, co-chairman and managing partner at the agency, and Stephen Huvane, a co-founder and talent publicist at Slate PR. Among the three, they repped some of the most famous actors in Hollywood, and Chris, the youngest, had segued to management after working first in PR alongside Stephen and then for eight years at GQ, rising to the post of senior West Coast editor.
“This is the lowest I have felt in some time. I love you Chris. The suffering is over,” Braff concluded. He also requested that his followers post suicide hotline numbers and resources in the comments section. On Twitter, he shared that he too has battled depression and he once made Huvane “an entire regimen” to follow daily.
Gillies, another Huvane client, posted on Instagram that she had been with him for nearly a decade. “When I met him, I remember thinking this guy is real. Chris was a straight shooter,” she wrote, adding that because they were both from the East Coast, he felt like family straight away. “He didn’t sugar coat things. He was always honest but never mean. He was so funny, so smart, so warm … he was open. He never hid his struggles and we’d talk about them often. He was a real friend. Our last dinner this past summer was filled with laughs like they always were. I’ll miss him dearly and can’t believe he’s gone. There will never be another like him.”
Deutch also took to Instagram Stories to share, “The most kind, honest, generous, fiercely loyal and special person. This is such a tragic loss and we are all going to miss you so much. You are so loved.”
Halt and Catch Fire co-creator and showrunner Christopher Cantwell, a onetime client, called Huvane a “lionhearted man” who was “fearless in his career and in his life.” Cantwell added that the two shared a bond over their mental health issues, and Huvane checked in on Cantwell amid a crisis. “He was frank and honest in a business when many are not, he was exceptionally kind, he was remarkably open about his struggles and wore himself on his sleeve.”
Former client Winkler called Huvane’s death “heartbreaking” and said, “Chris was so thoughtful and knowledgeable and such a compassionate caretaker .. He is now Free.” Management 360 client Theo Rossi said Huvane was “greatly appreciated and honored by myself and my family,” while Suicide Squad producer Andy Horwitz called him “the best of the best in Hollywood… I can honestly say there was nobody else like him.”
If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
