Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Anthony Hopkins

Sir Anthony Hopkins. Image by Elena Torre-Wikimedia

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh actor, director, producer, and painter. He attained US citizenship in 2000. He is among the most popular and prolific actors in Britain. He is best known for his role as a cannibalistic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, in The Silence of the Lambs. He bagged won an Oscar in 1992 for Best Actor in 1991 for this role. The veteran actor has acted in 90 films and a decent number of television projects, plus stage performances and stints as a composer or director.

He has received many accolades throughout his career, and prizes but he has also been criticized for choosing projects beneath his talent, such as A Change of Seasons (1980) with Bo Derek. He has admitted these as mistakes.  He was also diagnosed with high-functioning Asperger syndrome. His response in an interview with GQ Magazine he said, “I don’t know. I don’t believe in it. I don’t feel any different. I think these are dressed up. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m ignorant.”

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1. His childhood dream was to be a pianist

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Not very many people can attest to accomplishing their childhood dreams. Hopkin’s early ambitions were to be a pianist. However, when he met Welsh actor Richard Burton, at age 15, he was inspired to pursue acting. That is how at 18 he joined a YMCA drama club and received a scholarship to the Cardiff College of Music and Drama.

2. Hopkins is dyslexic

Dyslexia is a disorder that affects learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols. Hopkins hated school. He was antisocial and never interacted with other students. He preferred painting and playing the piano. However, it does not affect general intelligence. He has not let this affect his life. He has a sharp memory which he sharpens by learning poetry and plays. He takes time to read a poem every day. He has also mastered how to understand scripts by reading a script over 200 times out loud.

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3. He is a knight

Photo by Cas Holmes on Unsplash

Knighthood automatically upgrades the recipient’s social standard and gives the recipient global recognition for their outstanding service. Sir Anthony Hopkins was knighted in 1983 by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts at Buckingham Palace. When one is taking the oath to become a US citizen, they are required to renounce any title of nobility that they had. However, he was allowed to continue using his title in Britain and would still be recognized as a British national.

4. Improvised many actions and lines in The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs. Photo by Mavelus-Wikimedia

When a talented actor uses improvisation as a technique, it can lead to unforgettable performances. It stretches the imagination, sparks spontaneity, and has also been responsible for some of the best moments in cinema history! Hopkins used his creativity to bring out a couple of really memorable moments in the movie. For example, during his first scene with Jodie Foster, as Clarice, he makes fun of her Southern accent. This improvisation caught Jodie Foster off guard and she was mortified! She thought she had been personally attacked. Later, she thanked Hopkins for bringing out such an honest performance.

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5. He is an alcoholic

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

Alcoholism is a monster that has reached its tentacles to destroy so many lives. Hopkins was one of its victims. He has been very upfront in his addiction struggles. He turned to alcohol when he was younger as he felt unworthy of his accomplishments as an actor. He felt guilty and ashamed of his luck in the acting industry. The Oscar-winning actor realized he had to quit after he almost died drinking. The alcohol was affecting his work and when he woke up in a hotel room in Arizona not knowing how he got there, he finally had a wake-up call. He carries many regrets and does not wish to relive the period again. However, he is now sober and has been for the last 45 years!

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6. He is the oldest person to receive an Oscar for Best Actor

Image by Uriel Shuraki from Pixabay

You can never be too old to showcase talent. Hopkins proved this when he won the Oscar for Best Actor in the leading role in the film The Father at age 83 years. The win made him the oldest person to ever win an acting Oscar for his amazing delivery of an elderly man struggling with dementia. He starred alongside Olivia Coleman who played the daughter. He plays a man who refuses all help from his daughter as he gets old. The film is about aging, mental illnesses, and the effect it has on family relationships. However, the film unfolds into a tense physiological thriller. The movie was nominated for six academy awards.

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7. He did not attend his Oscar-winning ceremony

In 2021, he won an Oscar for the lead role in The Father at 83 years old. He ran against Chadwick Boseman who everyone thought would win. Chadwick’s performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was a favorite to many. Hopkins was also cynical and did not think he stood a chance. That is why he was a no-show,  which made the ceremony ended on a strange note. When he was pronounced the winner, he had long retired to bed. He got the message in the morning, and it came as a shock. He posted on social that he was privileged and honored. Before the Oscars, both Hopkins and Boseman had been nominated at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes, Hopkins bagged the former and Boseman the latter.

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8. He has volunteered at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica for 20 years

Ruskin Hall. Photo by Steve Cadman-Wikimedia

Hopkins knows how it feels to hit rock bottom. He could have led a different life if he let alcoholism take over his life. Knowing this has been his inspiration to use his earned privilege to do work for charity. He has donated a series of his landscape paintings to the San Antonio library for their literacy program, Born to Read. He has contributed music that he composed for a fundraiser to benefit the financially troubled San Antonio Symphony. He also helps the homeless. He has been a volunteer as a teacher at the Ruskin School of Acting in Santa Monica, California for the last 20 years! It is rare for an actor of his stature, to offer his services to a new generation of actors but it gives him joy as he counts it as giving back.

9. He acquired and was treated for hypothermia during the making of The Edge

Hopkins fell into a river while filming The Edge with Alec Baldwin in Alberta, Canada, in 1997. He had been in the water for about 10 minutes shooting a sequence in which he survives a plane crash. He did not realize how cold he was becoming until it was too late. He was rushed to the hospital and suspected to have acquired hypothermia and suffering from exhaustion. Left untreated, hypothermia can lead to complete failure of your heart and respiratory system and eventually to death.

10. He has an estranged daughter

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Hopkins has been married thrice. With his first wife, he had his only child, a daughter, Abigail Hopkins. His problems with alcohol led him to walk out of the family when Abigail was about a year old. His relationship with his daughter was affected. It took a toll on her when she was a teenager and she found comfort in drugs and had suicidal thoughts. Growing up, she would see him once a year. They tried to med things but it did not work. They are not on speaking terms and in an interview a couple of years ago, he admitted that he did not know if he had grandkids.