Sir Phillip Anthony Hopkins is a Welsh actor, producer, and director. Born on 31 December 1937 he is one of the most acclaimed actors worldwide, having received numerous awards throughout his acting career. He was also knighted by the Queen in recognition of his contributions to the arts.
Hopkins started his acting career in theater, acting in numerous plays from 1960 to 1967 before pursuing television and film. Hopkins’ most prominent roles saw him starring in Silence of the Lambs as the infamous Hannibal Lecter, for which he earned an Academy Award for Best Actor. He went on to play Hannibal again in the movie Hannibal and its sequel Red Dragon. Hopkins has also been cast in Marvel’s Thor franchise, HBO’s Westworld as well as The Mask of Zorro, Howards End, Legend of the Fall and Meet Joe Black.
After completing his primary education Hopkins remained in Wales and went on to study and graduate in 1957 from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. He then joined the British Army and after completing his two years of national service Hopkins enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Anthony Hopkins actually suffers from dyslexia but doesn’t let this affect his acting abilities, and he has an exceptional memory and is able to memorize scripts. Even more impressively, Hopkins goes over his script more than 250 times before he starts filming. While starring in Silence of the Lambs as Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins actually improvised many of his lines and had the idea not to blink when delivering these lines, making his performance as Lecter even more unsettling. Before being offered his famous role in Silence of the Lambs, Hopkins was actually struggling with his acting career not picking up and was on the brink of giving up and returning to London.
Hopkins almost died while filming The Edge. The actor fell into a river on set and later developed hyperthermia, but was lucky enough to make a full, fast recovery. Being most famous for his role in the horror film Silence of the Lambs, it comes as no surprise that the actor himself is an avid horror fan, with his favorite movie being Rosemary’s Baby. Hopkins is also a talented musician, having composed a musical piece called The Waltz Goes On as well as releasing a song called Distant Star which reached #75 on the Billboard UK singles chart.
Anthony Hopkins’ first role in 1967 was “Brechtian” in the short film The White Bus, with his next role being “Richard” in The Lion in Winter the following year. Most recently the actor has starred in The Son (2022) and is busy filming for Rebel Moon and One Life.
Hopkins has been married 3 times and is currently still with his third wife Stella Arroyave whom he wed in 2003. Having suffered with alcoholism in his early acting days, Hopkins has been sober since 1975. The actor has one daughter with first wife Petronella Barker named Abigail, it is alleged that he is estranged from his daughter and the pair have not spoken in over 20 years.
