Anthony Hopkins: A Dream for Any Director and Co-stars on Set. A Look Back at Key Milestones in His Film Journey on His 87th Birthday

Anthony Hopkins at 9 years oldSource: Legion-Media

A “Black Sheep” in the Family

“An idiot,” says Sir Hopkins when recalling his youth. “The perfect idiot. No brains.” This is not a self-deprecating remark but a statement of fact. The boy nicknamed “Hopkins-Psych” could not laugh, tell time, or make friends.

Even his father, a staunch vegetarian and member of paramilitary organizations, sided with his son’s peers who relentlessly teased and beat him. Hopkins Sr. was an incredibly energetic, willful man who, after his father lost the family fortune, founded his own bakery. The drunken grandfather, despite his faults, was the one person with whom young Anthony felt a sense of ease, though the man often referred to him as “Charlie” due to his alcohol-induced forgetfulness.

“There’s always a black sheep in the family,” his father sighed. “Or even two. As long as the boy doesn’t inherit his grandfather’s love of whiskey.” Richard Hopkins needn’t have worried, as it was tequila that almost led his son to ruin.

Anthony Hopkins in the film The Lion in Winter Source: Legion-Media

Dislike for Theater

After serving in the army, Anthony entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Upon graduation in 1963, he received an offer from the legendary Laurence Olivier to join the National Theatre troupe. However, young Hopkins wasn’t at all impressed by the status of the master. For his audition, he performed a monologue from Othello, despite the fact that posters of Olivier’s film adaptation of the play were plastered all over London. This was the young Hopkins: bold, arrogant, and outrageously talented.

From his early days on stage, Hopkins became known as the “enfant terrible” of London theatre. He drank, mocked theatrical snobs, and argued with directors. But his talent allowed him to get away with it.

“Hopkins never knows failure — only success. Any attempt by critics to bring down this brilliant artist is doomed to fail.”

In 1967, just before the performance of Dance of Death, Laurence Olivier was hospitalized with acute appendicitis. Instead of Olivier, the young actor played the lead role in Strindberg’s play and, as Olivier graciously admitted, “surpassed his teacher.” This was followed by roles in Three Sisters, Scenes from Provincial Life, and As You Like It. While other actors fought for these roles, Hopkins simply got them.

But he never grew fond of the theater. “Sometimes, standing on stage,” he recalls, “and for the hundredth time listening to the same lines, I thought, ‘What the hell am I doing here?!'” Anthony Hopkins made his film debut in 1967 in The White Bus, and his first success came a year later. By playing young Richard the Lionheart in The Lion in Winter, he not only stood out alongside greats like Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn but also received a BAFTA nomination.

Life in America

Hopkins fell in love with America immediately — passionately, completely, and irreversibly. Upon his first visit to California, he was enchanted: it was exactly the cinematic, orange-scented paradise he had imagined in his teenage dreams. His favorite pastime was renting a car and driving wherever his eyes led him. One day, he woke up in Arizona and couldn’t remember how he got there. “I realized this couldn’t go on, so I quit drinking, once and for all. A process that usually takes years for others took me exactly three minutes.”

No longer a prophet or wave conjurer, Hopkins was able to start working to his full capacity. He attacked Hollywood greedily, like a child with a jar of jam. Known for his strictness with scripts, he grabbed everything in sight, trying to drown the sorrow of his abandoned love — tequila — in work.

A string of brilliant projects (The Silence of the Lambs, The Elephant Man, The Bounty, *The Hunchback of Notre Dame) was interspersed with much less quality and cheaper productions like the TV series Hollywood Wives.

In every role, Hopkins gave his all, not caring about the consequences. But one fine day, he declared, “I’m done with movies!” and returned to London, intending to focus solely on his theatrical career.

Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs Source: Legion-Media

The Cannibal Who Rediscovered the Taste for Life

After three years of a quiet London life, Anthony Hopkins found himself on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was exhausted, drained, and bloodless. He once again dreamed of quitting everything, but he had nowhere to go. Offers to appear in films came in, but he was more repulsed by them than the tired lines of Antony and Cleopatra.

When Hopkins first read the script for The Silence of the Lambs, he nearly jumped to the ceiling with joy. Finally! For this character, it was worth quitting the theater: intelligent, subtle, charming, with a brilliant sense of humor. And although our hero had never tasted human flesh, he felt that this cannibalistic maniac had been living inside him for a long time.

The role of Hannibal Lecter made Anthony Hopkins a true star. He would return to this role twice — in Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002). In the meantime, there would be brilliant roles in Amistad, The Edge, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Mask of Zorro, Titus, and the award of a lordship, along with gaining American citizenship.

Anthony Hopkins and Jenny Linton

Source: Legion-Media

Three Weddings

Of course, one would like to write that the terrifying Hannibal Lecter in real life is a sweet, charming, good-hearted family man. Unfortunately, no. “I,” admits Sir Anthony, “have hurt many people.” Among them is his only daughter Abigail. He separated from her mother, actress Petronella Barker, when their daughter was not yet two, and to this day, he is not at peace with his conscience.

For a time, he had reconciled with his daughter; Abigail, also an actress, even starred in two films with him (*The Country of Shadows* and *At Day’s End*), but now the father has once again lost touch with her. He only knows that she lives “somewhere in England.”

He met his second wife, Jenny Linton, at the airport of a provincial town where he had arrived for a shoot. “Anthony Hopkins,” read the sign in the young woman’s hands. Jenny, a secretary to the producer, was sent to meet the London actor at the airport. Three months later, they were living together, and after four years, they married — almost as soon as Hopkins finally managed to finalize his divorce from Petronella.

Anthony Hopkins and Stella Arroyave Source: Legion-Media