Philip Seymour Hoffman admitted his drug habit was going to kill him just weeks before his death.

The Capote actor - who was found dead from an apparent heroin overdose at his home on Sunday - reportedly told friends in December that he was struggling to stay clean from the narcotic for more than few days and even returned to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to get support to stay sober.

According to gossip website TMZ, the actor was drinking heavily and looked "disheveled and dirty" in the weeks before his death and when asked how bad his problem was, he replied, "If I don't stop I know I'm gonna die."

It was reported yesterday that police found 50 packets of heroin and 20 used hypodermic needles in the actor's New York home. Many of the bags were stamped with "Ace of Spades" or "Ace of Hearts," which users say is heroin cut with a powerful pain reliever called fentanyl.

Other items recovered from the property include a charred spoon and five different medications which police suspect the Doubt star didn't have prescriptions for.

Philip - who was sober for over 20 years before relapsing last year - was found unconscious at around 11:15am on Sunday by his friend David Bar Katz, who called for assistance. David had gone to check on the actor after he failed to pick up his children Tallulah, seven, Cooper, ten and Willa, five.

His children live close by to the $10,000 a month apartment he was renting with their mother, Philip's estranged partner Mimi O'Donnell.