Anthony Hopkins was born on 31 December 1937 in Wales. When at school he wasn’t too interested in studying and rather spend his time on painting/drawing and playing music. Actor Richard Burton encouraged him to become an actor and he went to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He graduated in 1957. He went into the British Army for national service for 2 years. After this he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He started acting on the stage and became understudy for Laurence Olivier in 1965. He wasn’t too fond of playing the same part each evening and he started to become interested in films. He first appeared on screen in the BBC’s A Flea in Her Ear and his first movie was The Lion in Winter (which also stars Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn and Timothy Dalton). He still did theatre but slowly did more and more TV and movie acting. Movies he played in include War and Peace, A Bridge Too Far, The Elephant Man, The Bounty, The Mask of Zorro, Meet Joe Black, Hitchcock and Thor. His most famous role though is his portrayal of serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, for which he received an Oscar for best actor.
What’s your favorite Anthony Hopkins role?
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Sure, he can ham it up at times, but I’ve always had a very soft spot for Hopkins. I kind of love him a lot!
Yeah, I do think he is a great actor
He’s great in everything, but let’s be honest. He is Hannibal Lecter.
True…that’s the one almost everyone will first think of.
Right now, I would say The Remains of the Day over how understated it was. I should also mention that the guy is great at mimicking other actors. When Spartacus was being restored with some scenes that got cut from the film, Hopkins came in to do some dubbing on Laurence Olivier’s character for the scenes that got cut as he sounded a lot like Olivier for this notorious scene with him and Tony Curtis.
Have to still see that film. Didn’t know he was good at mimicking other actors, interesting to read!
Great actor. One of my favourite films by him that more people need to see is The World’s Fastest Indian in which he’s absolutely brilliant in what is a really heartwarming story.
Looking at the screenshots it looked interesting…still have to see it myself.
Hi, Nostra:
Mr. Hopkins nearly wrote the book on under playing characters. Can’t disagree with Dan and his mentioning ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’. Though some of his best early work can be found in ‘Juggernaut’.
With Hopkins as a Scotland Yard Inspector trying to find who planted bombs aboard an ocean liner and is holding it hostage outside the North Sea.
All involved, except Royal Marine demolitions expert, Richard Harris make it their life’s work to show no emotions while under playing each other.
Also think he would have made a superlative George Smiley if Sir Alec Guinness had not been available in the 1980s for ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’!
Thanks for your comment jack…as educational as ever 🙂
Great actor! His performance als Hanninbal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs is legendary (of course :)).
Yeah, that is a legendary role indeed!
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