WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.879 Welcome to the Deep Dive, where we stop scrolling, 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:05.740 pick up the source material, and uncover the 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.519 fascinating truths lurking beneath the surface 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:11.560 of the world's biggest stories. And today we 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.279 are taking a really concentrated look at, well, 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:17.440 a towering figure in modern drama. So Philip 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:21.399 Anthony Hopkins. We are dissecting six decades 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:25.199 of a career that's just. It's defined by this 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:30.379 phenomenal intensity and this... Almost terrifying 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:32.719 level of control. Yeah, that's the word, control. 00:00:33.060 --> 00:00:34.179 I mean, if you think of Hopkins, you probably 00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:36.960 think of that chilling intellectual calm he brings 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:39.179 to his character. Exactly, whether he's consuming 00:00:39.179 --> 00:00:41.460 the terminally rude as Hannibal Lecter. Right. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.799 Or grappling with the devastating fragility of 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:46.100 memory in his second Oscar -winning role, The 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:48.000 Father. And that's what this is about. This isn't 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.219 just us listing his credits. It's about trying 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:52.219 to understand the engine behind it all. What 00:00:52.219 --> 00:00:55.140 makes him tick? Right. Our mission today is to 00:00:55.140 --> 00:00:58.500 really explore how this Welsh legend achieves 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:02.039 such unparalleled longevity. We're going to analyze 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:05.000 how his deep -seated psychological complexity, 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:08.219 which is rooted in his struggles with confidence 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:11.040 in his personal life, how that translated into 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:14.260 his creative method. So how did this almost obsessive 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:18.200 preparation combine with this... profound psychological 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:21.480 insight to shape one of the most compelling actors 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:23.959 Britain has ever produced. That's the question. 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:26.239 And the sources we've got, they paint a really 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:29.140 comprehensive portrait of a true modern master. 00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:31.079 That's actually a title he was given, a reference 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.739 to the Moulton Modern Master Award he got back 00:01:33.739 --> 00:01:36.859 in 2000. So to really appreciate the scale of 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:38.620 this deep dive, I think we need to establish 00:01:38.620 --> 00:01:41.420 his stature right from the very start. Oh, absolutely. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.280 I mean, this man's shelf must be groaning under 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:46.239 the weight of his achievements. Let's just let's 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.560 list the majors to frame this conversation. OK, 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:50.780 let's start with the big one, the Oscars. He 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:53.260 has two Academy Awards for best actor, first 00:01:53.260 --> 00:01:55.640 for Silence of the Lambs and then decades later 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.329 for The Father. And that span, winning the highest 00:01:59.329 --> 00:02:02.250 honor in film over a 30 -year period, I mean, 00:02:02.269 --> 00:02:04.909 that's virtually unmatched. And beyond that, 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:07.769 he's got four BAFTA awards, including the big 00:02:07.769 --> 00:02:11.629 one, the BAFTA Fellowship, in 2008 for his lifetime 00:02:11.629 --> 00:02:13.909 achievement. And his success wasn't just on the 00:02:13.909 --> 00:02:17.990 big screen, was it? Not at all. He has two Primetime 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:19.949 Emmy Awards for his groundbreaking television 00:02:19.949 --> 00:02:22.569 work, and this is critical, a Laurence Olivier 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:25.030 Award for his stage triumph in the play Pravda. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.819 So he mastered all three mediums. Every single 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:29.780 one. And then, of course, there's the knighthood. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.479 Queen Elizabeth II conferred the title Sir on 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:35.719 him in 1993 for his services to drama. It's the 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.219 official stamp, you know, a British cultural 00:02:38.219 --> 00:02:41.479 institution. It is, but he's also a truly transnational 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.560 figure. He holds dual citizenship, UK and US, 00:02:44.819 --> 00:02:47.719 becoming a naturalized US citizen in April of 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.460 2000. So he operates across that Atlantic divide, 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.900 kind of bridging that high British seriousness 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:55.699 with American blockbuster accessibility. Perfectly 00:02:55.699 --> 00:02:58.740 put. Okay, let's unpack this. To understand the 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:01.159 master of control, we have to start with the 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.419 young man who felt, well, entirely out of control. 00:03:04.659 --> 00:03:07.300 Philip Anthony Hopkins. Born on New Year's Eve 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:11.159 1937 in Port Talbot, Wales. His father, Richard 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:14.219 Arthur Hopkins, was a baker. running a modest 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:17.120 working class business. And that working class 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.560 origin story is absolutely central to his psychological 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.719 makeup. The sources really highlight that his 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:25.840 father's values weren't just influential. They 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.759 were this constant grounding force. Right. Hopkins 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:30.919 said that whenever he started feeling the ego 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:33.800 of fame or the vanity of being special, he would 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:36.180 deliberately recall his father. What did he remember? 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:39.080 He'd remember his hands, his hardened, broken 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:41.360 hands. It was this self -imposed psychological 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.039 check just to make sure he never strayed too 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:46.159 far from the reality of hard work. It's a very 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:49.400 Welsh working class anchor. And what's so remarkable, 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:51.460 especially given his later intellectual command 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:53.960 on screen, is how poorly he did in school. His 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:56.500 early school days are consistently described 00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:00.159 as unproductive. He was sent to a couple of different 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.000 schools, Jones's West Monmouth Boy School and 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.159 then Cowbridge Grammar School. Which were attempts 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:08.020 by his parents to instill discipline. But it 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.340 just wouldn't take, at least not in a traditional 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:13.280 academic sense. Instead, he channeled all that 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.199 energy into these solitary pursuits, art, painting, 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:20.519 drawing, and most importantly, the piano. And 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:22.980 this is a really critical detail. It lays the 00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:25.519 foundation for his later professional discipline. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.680 When he was asked about his youth, he made this 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.240 truly shocking self -assessment in 2002. What 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.579 did he say? He admitted I was a poor learner, 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:37.240 which left me open to ridicule and gave me an 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:40.459 inferiority complex. I grew up absolutely convinced 00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:43.660 I was stupid. Wow, so imagine that. A genius 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:45.920 actor hailed for his intellect carrying this 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:47.899 lifelong conviction that he was fundamentally 00:04:47.899 --> 00:04:50.970 unintelligent. That kind of conviction, it drives 00:04:50.970 --> 00:04:53.610 a very particular kind of overcompensation. So 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:55.490 if he felt stupid in the classroom, he needed 00:04:55.490 --> 00:04:57.149 another way out. And that's where Richard Burton 00:04:57.149 --> 00:05:00.889 comes in, right? Exactly. Burton, another formidable 00:05:00.889 --> 00:05:04.509 Welshman, he was the template. Hopkins met him 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:07.290 when he was just 15. Were they close? No, not 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:09.290 at all. Hopkins later clarified it was more of 00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:10.970 a chance encounter in their shared hometown. 00:05:11.410 --> 00:05:14.089 But the impact of seeing this local figure achieve 00:05:14.089 --> 00:05:16.769 massive success in the dramatic arts was clearly 00:05:16.769 --> 00:05:19.759 motivational. Burton showed him that acting was 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.899 a viable, a powerful escape from the bakery life. 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:25.399 So he starts on the formal path pretty soon after 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:27.639 that. He graduated from the Royal Welsh College 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:30.899 of Music and Drama in 1957. But before London 00:05:30.899 --> 00:05:33.360 and stardom, there was a mandatory detour. Right. 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:36.180 National service. Two years between 58 and 60, 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.540 serving in the Royal Artillery as Gunner Hopkins. 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:41.160 A period of rigorous discipline. Which maybe 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:43.459 inadvertently helped curb some of that restless 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:45.959 energy that had plagued his school years. And 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:47.720 right after his service, he went straight. to 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:49.439 the heart of the British acting establishment, 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.620 Array. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:55.899 graduated in 1963. But the real career catalyst, 00:05:56.139 --> 00:05:58.560 the moment that transformed him from just a promising 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:01.720 graduate into a genuine force, that came in 1965, 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:04.519 and it was courtesy of the legend himself, Laurence 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.649 Olivier. Olivier, at the height of his power, 00:06:06.769 --> 00:06:09.310 director of the Royal National Theatre, he spots 00:06:09.310 --> 00:06:12.189 Hopkins. And just invites him to join the company. 00:06:12.410 --> 00:06:14.790 This was the ultimate apprenticeship. Hopkins 00:06:14.790 --> 00:06:17.389 was thrust into the highest echelon of theatrical 00:06:17.389 --> 00:06:19.829 performance. And the crucial breakthrough came 00:06:19.829 --> 00:06:24.000 in 67. Hopkins was understudying Olivier in Strindberg's 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.480 The Dance of Death. An intensely demanding play. 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.620 And then Olivier is suddenly struck down with 00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:31.720 appendicitis. So Hopkins, the understudy, is 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.540 forced onto the stage. The moment must have been 00:06:34.540 --> 00:06:38.180 terrifying. Terrifying, but the result was legendary. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.259 Olivier's review of that substitution, which 00:06:41.259 --> 00:06:43.759 is preserved in his memoir, is probably the most 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.459 famous piece of feedback Hopkins ever got. What 00:06:46.459 --> 00:06:49.509 did he write? He wrote that Hopkins... walked 00:06:49.509 --> 00:06:52.089 away with a part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse 00:06:52.089 --> 00:06:55.769 between its teeth. Wow. An image of silent predatory 00:06:55.769 --> 00:06:58.009 control. The very trait that would define his 00:06:58.009 --> 00:07:00.889 most famous roles decades later. And surprisingly, 00:07:01.009 --> 00:07:03.389 that was also the moment that ended his crippling 00:07:03.389 --> 00:07:05.949 stage fright. He'd been plagued by nerves, the 00:07:05.949 --> 00:07:07.670 same thing that made him miserable in school, 00:07:07.769 --> 00:07:11.370 just reappearing on stage. And Olivier gave him 00:07:11.370 --> 00:07:14.350 what sounds like tough love, but it turned out 00:07:14.350 --> 00:07:17.160 to be essential advice. When Hopkins mentioned 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:19.920 his anxiety, Olivia just told him, remember, 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.740 nerves is vanity. You're wondering what people 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:24.639 think of you. To hell with them. Just jump off 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.139 the edge. That's powerful. The idea that focusing 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:29.500 on the audience's judgment is a form of ego. 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:32.829 It freed him. It freed him to focus purely on 00:07:32.829 --> 00:07:36.009 the work. It became his doctrine, complete commitment, 00:07:36.209 --> 00:07:38.670 zero self -consciousness. And with that philosophy, 00:07:38.850 --> 00:07:41.430 his screen career began to take off pretty quickly. 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:44.670 His debut was in 68, playing Richard the Lionheart 00:07:44.670 --> 00:07:46.870 in The Lion in Winter. And he got a BAFTA nomination 00:07:46.870 --> 00:07:49.550 for it. supporting actor right out of the gate. 00:07:49.649 --> 00:07:52.110 That's a serious indicator of talent, to step 00:07:52.110 --> 00:07:54.410 into a period piece with established stars and 00:07:54.410 --> 00:07:56.569 immediately get that level of recognition. And 00:07:56.569 --> 00:07:58.850 television really cemented his reputation for 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:01.670 inhabiting these complex historical roles. He 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:03.370 was universally acclaimed for playing Pierre 00:08:03.370 --> 00:08:06.269 Bazoukoff in the BBC's epic War and Peace in 00:08:06.269 --> 00:08:09.589 1972. He won a BAFTA for that, didn't he? Best 00:08:09.589 --> 00:08:12.449 actor. He did. He proved he could sustain a performance 00:08:12.449 --> 00:08:15.310 across many hours and just anchor a massive production. 00:08:15.819 --> 00:08:18.699 This decade is also where his deep, lasting association 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:20.959 with the director Richard Attenborough began. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.079 Attenborough directed him in five films, and 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.740 his assessment of Hopkins during this era is, 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.519 well, it's definitive. What did he say? Attenborough 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.879 called him unquestionably the greatest actor 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:34.919 of his generation. And this was back in the 1970s. 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:37.460 In the 70s, before Hamill Lecter, before the 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:40.279 remains of the day. Attenborough saw this raw, 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.879 unmatched technical brilliance. It just confirms 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:46.759 that Hopkins didn't emerge fully formed in the 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:49.740 90s. He was already operating at an elite level, 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:51.919 even while he was still grappling with his own 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:54.440 confidence. So moving into the 1980s, we see 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:58.259 Hopkins caught in this creative tug of war. He's 00:08:58.259 --> 00:09:00.340 trying to conquer Hollywood, but he's still feeling 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:03.159 that magnetic pull of British theater. The decade 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:06.659 starts with a real high watermark. David Lynch's 00:09:06.659 --> 00:09:09.399 extraordinary film, The Elephant Man, in 1980. 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:12.120 Hopkins played the empathetic surgeon, Sir Frederick 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:14.379 Treece. And The Elephant Man was a huge success, 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:16.879 critically and commercially. Eight Oscar nominations. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:19.620 It really showcased his ability to provide this 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:22.519 calm, intellectual center to a deeply disturbing 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:25.740 story. But in the very same year... We get the 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:27.899 first hint of his discomfort with the Hollywood 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:30.360 machine. Right. He co -starred with Shirley MacLaine 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:33.340 in a romantic comedy, A Change of Seasons. And 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:36.019 it was a disaster. Total disaster. Critically 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:38.820 and at the box office. And it frustrated him 00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:40.940 immensely. And he did not hold back his feelings 00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:43.159 about it. What did he say? He later called MacLaine 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:45.340 the most obnoxious actress I have ever worked 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:47.820 with. Wow. But this isn't just a petty actor 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:50.539 spat, you know. It speaks to his core values. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.470 Hopkins demands discipline, focus. a serious 00:09:54.470 --> 00:09:56.629 approach. So when he found himself in a project 00:09:56.629 --> 00:09:59.350 that felt lightweight or poorly executed, he 00:09:59.350 --> 00:10:02.929 felt this profound creative disdain. It just 00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:05.470 confirmed his suspicion that the stage, with 00:10:05.470 --> 00:10:08.309 its rigorous demands, was maybe a safer haven 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:11.149 for serious actors. And yet, despite those frustrations 00:10:11.149 --> 00:10:13.389 with film, his television work was consistently 00:10:13.389 --> 00:10:16.169 sublime. He got two primetime Emmys during this 00:10:16.169 --> 00:10:18.950 period. He did. The first was in 76 for the Lindbergh 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:21.450 kidnapping case. But the second, playing Adolf 00:10:21.450 --> 00:10:24.809 Hitler in the 1981 TV film The Bunker. That is 00:10:24.809 --> 00:10:27.450 essential context for understanding Lecter. He 00:10:27.450 --> 00:10:30.490 was tackling the monumental challenge of humanizing 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:34.200 pure evil. And the critics immediately saw this 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:37.000 specific genius at work. The New York Times review 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.399 said that Hopkins succeeded in making the monster 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.879 too understandable. Giving him decidedly pathetic 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:45.759 dimensions. He avoided the cliche, the screaming 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:47.879 caricature. He went for the chilling banality 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:51.799 of the man. And this ability to inject flaw humanity 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:54.580 into figures of monumental malice, well, that 00:10:54.580 --> 00:10:57.139 became his trademark. Still, the stage beckoned 00:10:57.139 --> 00:10:59.279 him back. And in the mid-'80s, he returned to 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.159 the British theater for this triumphant run. 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:04.279 This was arguably the zenith of his modern stage 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:07.580 career. He starred in David Hare's hugely successful 00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:09.860 satire Pravda. Which was about the newspaper 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:12.399 industry during the Thatcher era. Exactly. He 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.379 played this ruthless media mogul, Lambert Leroux, 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.379 a perversely brilliant modern -day barbarian, 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:20.279 as he called him. And he won the Olivia Award 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:23.019 for it. Outstanding achievement. It was theater's 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:25.690 definitive stamp of approval. Then he followed 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:28.149 that up by taking on King Lear in 86 at the National 00:11:28.149 --> 00:11:30.129 Theater, which he always said was his favorite 00:11:30.129 --> 00:11:32.090 Shakespearean role. He seemed to have reached 00:11:32.090 --> 00:11:35.210 this perfect equilibrium between praise, command, 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:38.450 and fulfillment. But it didn't last. No. The 00:11:38.450 --> 00:11:41.230 intense commitment required by the stage, you 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:42.850 know, we're performing the same show six nights 00:11:42.850 --> 00:11:45.769 a week, no retakes, it eventually broke him. 00:11:45.850 --> 00:11:48.250 His last stage role was M. Butterfly in The West 00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:51.419 End in 1989. and it brought his stage career 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:54.559 to a screeching halt. He hated it so much he 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:57.539 described the experience as a torment. He told 00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:00.120 an anecdote about it, didn't he? He did. He recalled 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.379 a matinee where he realized the entire audience 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:04.960 was made up of Japanese tourists who didn't react 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.340 to any of the comedy. He went back to his dressing 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:10.340 room, just defeated, and thought, an open razor, 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:12.820 please. That's bleak. The stage, which had been 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:15.580 his salvation, became a prison built of repetition. 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:19.049 He never went back. And this leads us directly 00:12:19.049 --> 00:12:21.029 into his mindset just before the biggest role 00:12:21.029 --> 00:12:23.029 of his life. He'd failed to really break Hollywood. 00:12:23.129 --> 00:12:25.610 He was burned out on the stage. He was defeated. 00:12:25.830 --> 00:12:28.210 He moved to L .A. in the late 70s looking for 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:30.850 screen success. But after all the disappointments 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:33.009 and the stage fatigue, he returned to London 00:12:33.009 --> 00:12:35.789 ready to settle. He admitted he'd all but given 00:12:35.789 --> 00:12:38.210 up on Hollywood. Yeah, he resigned himself to 00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:40.590 the idea that he would just have to settle for 00:12:40.590 --> 00:12:42.769 being a respectable actor poncing around the 00:12:42.769 --> 00:12:46.149 West End. Thinking at 50 that he was essentially 00:12:46.149 --> 00:12:48.710 finished with ambition. And the ultimate irony 00:12:48.710 --> 00:12:51.309 is that it was precisely that moment of profound 00:12:51.309 --> 00:12:54.389 creative defeat that preceded the role that would 00:12:54.389 --> 00:12:56.909 make him immortal. And then the 1990s started 00:12:56.909 --> 00:13:00.490 with a phone call. And suddenly, the global image 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:03.950 of Anthony Hopkins was forged forever. Hannibal 00:13:03.950 --> 00:13:07.370 Lecter. The Silence of Lambs, 1991. The character 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:09.710 became a cultural phenomenon. It led to his first 00:13:09.710 --> 00:13:12.230 Academy Award for Best Actor. And here's the 00:13:12.230 --> 00:13:14.750 fact that just perfectly illustrates the power 00:13:14.750 --> 00:13:18.039 of his control. He was on screen for less than 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.340 16 minutes. 16 minutes in the entire film. The 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:23.940 impact was completely disproportionate to the 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:26.500 screen time. The casting was so deliberate. The 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:28.720 director, Jonathan Demmon, specifically sought 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.940 a British actor because, as Jodie Foster said, 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:34.039 Lecter wasn't just some crude monster. No, he 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:36.220 needed the presence of a Shakespearean monster. 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.279 Someone who used language and intellect to just 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.340 lock people in place. He needed that classical 00:13:42.340 --> 00:13:45.080 theatrical gravitas Hopkins had perfected under 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.090 Olivier. And what's so fascinating is how he 00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:51.070 built the performance using little pieces of 00:13:51.070 --> 00:13:55.830 his own past. That iconic, chilling, sucking 00:13:55.830 --> 00:13:58.169 noise. That wasn't some intellectual character 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:01.480 choice. It was pure mischief. Hopkins admitted 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:03.720 that was the exact noise he used to make to frighten 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:06.080 girls when he was a boy in Port Talbot. He took 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.840 that tiny detail of childhood impishness and 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:10.840 integrated it into the world's most sophisticated 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:13.580 sociopath. And that power was felt immediately, 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.179 even before they started filming. He recounted 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:17.940 the table read. Where he delivered his first 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:20.580 line to Jodie Foster. Good morning. You're one 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:22.740 of Jack Crawford's, aren't you? And Hopkins said 00:14:22.740 --> 00:14:25.299 the entire room, producers included, just froze. 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:28.320 The silence was broken by a producer saying, 00:14:28.669 --> 00:14:30.889 Holy crap, don't change a thing. That one line 00:14:30.889 --> 00:14:33.129 established everything. The character didn't 00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:36.090 need to shout. His control was total. And that 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.649 role just launched the second chapter of his 00:14:38.649 --> 00:14:41.750 career. He reprised Lecter in Hannibal and Red 00:14:41.750 --> 00:14:44.090 Dragon. The reviews for Hannibal were mixed, 00:14:44.090 --> 00:14:47.129 but commercially it was explosive, broke international 00:14:47.129 --> 00:14:49.690 box office records. But he knew where to draw 00:14:49.690 --> 00:14:52.370 the line. He famously refused to come back for 00:14:52.370 --> 00:14:54.700 the prequel, Hannibal Rising. He'd exhausted 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:56.899 his take on the character. And it was during 00:14:56.899 --> 00:15:01.019 this time he offered his own philosophical boundary 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:03.460 for the killer, a really sardonic justification 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:06.659 that only Hopkins could deliver. Right. He called 00:15:06.659 --> 00:15:09.159 Lecter the Robin Hood of killers. He kills the 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.830 terminally rude. That phrase, terminally rude, 00:15:13.210 --> 00:15:15.590 it just encapsulates the sophistication he brought 00:15:15.590 --> 00:15:17.850 to it. It allows him to play Lecter not just 00:15:17.850 --> 00:15:20.889 as a killer, but as a kind of vigilante, a connoisseur 00:15:20.889 --> 00:15:23.570 with his own bizarre moral code. Finding that 00:15:23.570 --> 00:15:25.549 kernel of self -justification is what makes the 00:15:25.549 --> 00:15:28.309 monster so terrifying and so palatable to the 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:31.399 audience. But the genius of the 90s is the immediate 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.360 pivot he made away from the monster. He used 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.139 his new box office power to delve into quiet, 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:40.320 repressed English drama. His merchant ivory peak. 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:43.200 This is where we see that stillness truly shine. 00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:46.539 He was in Howard's end in 92 as the cold businessman 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:49.700 Henry Wilcox. And then he reunited with them 00:15:49.700 --> 00:15:52.220 and Emma Thompson for the seminal 1993 film. 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:54.960 The Remains of the Day. Playing Stevens, the 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:57.840 deeply repressed, emotionally sterile butler 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.759 whose entire life is defined by service and his 00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:03.200 inability to express love. Hopkins named that 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.100 as one of his favorite films. It got him his 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:07.779 second BAFTA and another Oscar nomination. It's 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:10.759 the ultimate contracts to Lecter, isn't it? Lecter 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:13.820 is all about overwhelming control delivered through 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:16.840 language. Stevens is overwhelming control delivered 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:19.230 through a lack of language. through physical 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:21.710 paralysis. Morgan Freeman actually cited that 00:16:21.710 --> 00:16:24.690 performance as a crucial lesson in eloquent stillness, 00:16:24.850 --> 00:16:27.070 the power of just being and letting the camera 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:29.730 capture the internal life. That decade also really 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:32.250 showed his mastery of the biopic. He had this 00:16:32.250 --> 00:16:35.049 run of intense historical roles. Right. He was 00:16:35.049 --> 00:16:37.190 nominated for an Oscar for playing Richard Nixon 00:16:37.190 --> 00:16:40.179 in Oliver Stone's Nixon. And before that. Another 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:43.279 BAFTA nomination for playing C .S. Lewis in Shadowlands, 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.360 again with Emma Thompson. He just disappeared 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:50.000 into the cadence and mannerisms of these real 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.259 recognizable figures. Which brings us to that 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:55.399 legendary story from the set of Amistad in 1997. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.820 Where his obsessive preparation just paid off 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:01.139 in the most spectacular way. And earned him the 00:17:01.139 --> 00:17:04.339 awe of Hollywood royalty. Director Steven Spielberg 00:17:04.339 --> 00:17:07.089 was completely floored. Hopkins was playing John 00:17:07.089 --> 00:17:09.910 Quincy Adams, and he had to deliver this monumental 00:17:09.910 --> 00:17:13.289 seven -page courtroom speech. A staggering amount 00:17:13.289 --> 00:17:15.690 of dialogue. And Hopkins not only memorized it 00:17:15.690 --> 00:17:18.450 to perfection, he delivered the entire complex 00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:22.309 sequence in a single take. Spielberg was so stunned 00:17:22.309 --> 00:17:24.289 he insisted on calling him Sir Anthony for the 00:17:24.289 --> 00:17:26.430 rest of the shoot. That level of technical command 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:29.630 is just, it's so rare. It showed his professionalism, 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:31.319 too. It's probably why he was so comfortable 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:33.539 working with non -human co -stars like Bart the 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:35.700 Bear. Right, in Legends of the Fall on the Edge. 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:38.279 And the Bear trainer noted that Hopkins treated 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:41.779 Bart with respect, like a fellow actor. By 1998, 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:44.960 this combination of artistic integrity and box 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:47.380 office reliability just made him untouchable. 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:50.299 He was Britain's highest paid performer. Commanding 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:53.819 a reported $15 million fee to reprise Lecter. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.779 The 90s really belonged to him. So as the 21st 00:17:57.779 --> 00:18:00.519 century dawned, Hopkins was this established 00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:03.079 master, lending his gravitas to all sorts of 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:05.779 projects. We saw him narrate how the Grinch stole 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:08.220 Christmas. Showing his vocal control could even 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:10.809 elevate a children's tale. while also continuing 00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:12.990 the commercial success of the Lecter franchise. 00:18:13.470 --> 00:18:16.009 But he still sought out those small personal 00:18:16.009 --> 00:18:18.390 projects that really resonated with him. He often 00:18:18.390 --> 00:18:20.369 cited his role as Burt Monroe in The World's 00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:23.309 Fastest Indian from 2005 as his favorite and 00:18:23.309 --> 00:18:26.069 easiest part. Why was that? He just felt a deep 00:18:26.069 --> 00:18:28.069 connection to Monroe, explaining that they shared 00:18:28.069 --> 00:18:30.410 a similar fundamentally optimistic outlook on 00:18:30.410 --> 00:18:33.230 life and this relentless drive. Then came the 00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:35.869 unexpected pivot into, well, high -octane fantasy 00:18:35.869 --> 00:18:38.190 and blockbusters. Right. If you wanted institutional 00:18:38.190 --> 00:18:40.769 gravitas in a fantasy world, you hired Sir Anthony 00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:43.650 Hopkins. He became Odin, the All -Father in the 00:18:43.650 --> 00:18:45.829 Marvel Cinematic Universe. Across three Thor 00:18:45.829 --> 00:18:48.529 films. It's not a world known for its nuanced 00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:51.190 dramatic performances, but Hopkins delivered 00:18:51.190 --> 00:18:54.650 that necessary weight and pathos to the God -King 00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:57.250 of Asgard. He also did another high -profile 00:18:57.250 --> 00:19:00.109 biopic, playing the director himself in Hitchcock 00:19:00.109 --> 00:19:03.170 in 2012. But the real emotional and creative 00:19:03.170 --> 00:19:06.630 turning point of this whole decade wasn't a blockbuster. 00:19:07.009 --> 00:19:09.829 It was a return to the themes of the stage he 00:19:09.829 --> 00:19:12.789 had so bitterly abandoned. Right. In 2015, he 00:19:12.789 --> 00:19:14.930 starred opposite his good friend Ian McKellen 00:19:14.930 --> 00:19:18.170 in the BBC adaptation of The Dresser. And this 00:19:18.170 --> 00:19:20.369 performance was profoundly personal for him. 00:19:20.509 --> 00:19:22.450 Why did this feel different from the stage work 00:19:22.450 --> 00:19:24.549 that had tormented him before? He was playing 00:19:24.549 --> 00:19:28.579 Sir. An aging, egotistical and deeply insecure 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:31.400 actor manager who is struggling mentally to go 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:34.420 on stage. Hopkins just connected with that character's 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:36.380 frailty and self -doubt. He called it the highlight 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.519 of my life. Yeah, and a chance to finally work 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:40.039 with the kind of actors he had run away from 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:42.240 when he quit the theater. So the role was almost 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.559 a form of therapy for him. It let him rewrite 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:48.000 that stage narrative. Precisely. He realized 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.880 that his lifelong sense of being a loner and 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.289 his stage panic were... All in my imagination, 00:19:53.609 --> 00:19:56.569 all in my vanity. Accepting the role of the insecure, 00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:59.569 fading actor helped him find peace with his own 00:19:59.569 --> 00:20:02.390 professional identity. And that self -acceptance 00:20:02.390 --> 00:20:05.390 seemed to fuel this final, massive screen resurgence. 00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:08.029 A resurgence that included acclaimed prestige 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:11.769 TV. He starred as Dr. Robert Ford in Westworld. 00:20:11.950 --> 00:20:14.460 For which he got an Emmy nomination. That role, 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:16.559 too, played perfectly to his strengths -controlled, 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.440 philosophical, a little bit menacing. He then 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:21.859 revisited his favorite Shakespearean role, Lear, 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:25.400 in a devastating 2018 TV film, again with Emma 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:27.740 Thompson. Vulture magazine called the performance 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:30.700 devastating. Just before his second Oscar win, 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.180 he gave this beautifully subtle performance as 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:36.019 Pope Benedict VI in The Two Popes. Opposite Jonathan 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:39.119 Prices, Pope Francis. The chemistry was palpable. 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:41.440 And Hopkins pointed out their shared Welsh heritage. 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:44.259 He's from the North and I'm from the South. A 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:46.259 small detail, but it speaks to his comfort when 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:47.799 working with actors who share his background 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:50.380 and discipline. But the culminating moment, the 00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:53.539 grand finale of this resurgence, was The Father 00:20:53.539 --> 00:20:56.660 in 2020. Playing an octogenarian struggling with 00:20:56.660 --> 00:20:59.799 Alzheimer's. The critical acclaim was just. It 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.259 was bordering on reverence. The performance was 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:04.759 technically perfect, heartbreakingly vulnerable. 00:21:05.369 --> 00:21:07.769 and deeply authentic. And it resulted in his 00:21:07.769 --> 00:21:11.150 second Academy Award for Best Actor, making him, 00:21:11.190 --> 00:21:15.049 at age 83, the oldest person to ever win an acting 00:21:15.049 --> 00:21:17.210 Oscar. And he wasn't even at the ceremony. No. 00:21:17.329 --> 00:21:19.529 He accepted the award the next day in a video 00:21:19.529 --> 00:21:22.250 from Wales, saying with just tremendous humility, 00:21:22.589 --> 00:21:25.150 at 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this 00:21:25.150 --> 00:21:28.130 award. And he used the opportunity to pay sincere 00:21:28.130 --> 00:21:31.299 tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. That humility 00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:33.480 and drive have continued. He was in Armageddon 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:36.920 time in 2022. Playing a kindly grandfather, a 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:39.019 role he based on his own grandfather who encouraged 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:41.680 him to act. The New York Times praised how he 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.960 found the essential grit hiding underneath the 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:46.259 twinkle. And he's showing absolutely no sign 00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:49.299 of retiring. The future slate is astonishingly 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:51.259 busy. He's playing Sir Nicholas Winton in one 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:54.200 life. Sigmund Freud in Freud's Last Session and 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:56.740 Herod the Great for Netflix. It seems like this 00:21:56.740 --> 00:21:58.940 combination of his professional peak and his 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.519 personal self -acceptance has made him more creatively 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:04.099 fertile than ever. Now we have to turn to the 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:07.259 core mystery. How does he do it? And the foundation 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:10.200 of his entire career is built on this massive 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.380 artistic paradox. The doctrine of over -preparation. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.279 It's so fascinating, right? Using this obsessive, 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.980 almost mechanical process to achieve an effect 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:21.900 of total effortless spontaneity. It's completely 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:24.200 counterintuitive to everything we think we know 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.160 about acting. He's famous for his line learning 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:28.940 method. Once he's on a project, he will go over 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:30.859 his lines, reading them and saying them aloud 00:22:30.859 --> 00:22:34.339 upwards of 200 times. 200 times. He does this 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:36.640 until the words just cease being a conscious 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.940 thought. The goal is to internalize the text 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:43.420 so deeply that when he's on set, he can deliver 00:22:43.420 --> 00:22:45.940 them without thinking. So the discipline isn't 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:48.099 really about memorization. It's about making 00:22:48.099 --> 00:22:51.460 the material pure muscle memory. Exactly. The 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:53.880 lines have to be so automatic that his conscious 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:56.359 mind is free to focus entirely on the emotional 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:58.839 state of the character in that moment, as if 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:00.660 the words are being discovered for the very first 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:03.880 time. The intense groundwork has to be completely 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:06.400 invisible to the audience. He strives for an 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:09.859 almost casual style of delivery that belies the 00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:12.500 amount of groundwork done beforehand. If you 00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:15.660 think back to that Amistad speech, seven pages 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:18.180 in one take, that's the result of preparation 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:21.160 that just transcends the need for multiple takes. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:24.359 And this method had profound, sometimes difficult 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:28.480 consequences on set. He prefers speed and spontaneity. 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:30.819 which often clashed with actors who preferred 00:23:30.819 --> 00:23:33.460 exhausting intellectual rehearsals. The prime 00:23:33.460 --> 00:23:35.920 example is Jabra Winger on the set of Shadowlands. 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:38.220 She wanted extensive rehearsal, drilling every 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:40.180 moment. Hopkins preferred to save it for the 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:42.339 camera. And Richard Attenborough, who understood 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:45.420 Hopkins better than anyone, had to become a mediator. 00:23:45.579 --> 00:23:47.759 What did he do? Attenborough found this brilliant 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:50.160 way to accommodate him. He would use a stand 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.859 -in for Hopkins during Winger's exhaustive rehearsals 00:23:52.859 --> 00:23:55.880 and only bring Hopkins in for the very last rehearsal 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:58.150 before filming. So he was protecting Hopkins' 00:23:58.430 --> 00:24:00.650 gift. He was. Attenborough said it protected 00:24:00.650 --> 00:24:03.710 his extraordinary ability to make you believe 00:24:03.710 --> 00:24:06.470 when you hear him that it is the very first time 00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:09.890 he has ever said that line. That first time feeling 00:24:09.890 --> 00:24:12.450 is his trademark. And what's interesting is the 00:24:12.450 --> 00:24:15.329 flip side of that obsessive preparation is how 00:24:15.329 --> 00:24:18.410 quickly he discards the text afterward. Unlike 00:24:18.410 --> 00:24:20.569 other classical actors who can recall their lines 00:24:20.569 --> 00:24:23.690 years later, Hopkins says once filming wraps, 00:24:23.869 --> 00:24:26.049 he just, he discards them immediately, wipes 00:24:26.049 --> 00:24:29.650 the slate clean. It's professional creative ruthlessness. 00:24:30.289 --> 00:24:33.170 Moving past the lines, his physical technique 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:35.670 is characterized by two distinct forms of control. 00:24:36.529 --> 00:24:39.400 First, That eloquent stillness we talked about. 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:41.000 Right, from the remains of the day. It's almost 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:43.839 an anti -performance technique. By not moving, 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:46.180 he forces the audience to project the emotional 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:48.500 turmoil onto him. It's highly active performance 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:51.380 through total physical restraint, which leads 00:24:51.380 --> 00:24:53.220 to his second technique, the submarine approach. 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:56.099 The submarine approach. What does that mean in 00:24:56.099 --> 00:24:58.960 practical terms? He explained that the goal is 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.680 to be less demonstrative, especially in scenes 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.799 of high tension. He said, I think the less one 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:08.490 shows, the better. The submarine is silent, dangerous, 00:25:08.690 --> 00:25:11.410 and its presence is felt long before it's seen. 00:25:11.589 --> 00:25:14.390 So he contains the villainy, making it a constant, 00:25:14.470 --> 00:25:17.269 quiet hum just beneath the surface. Exactly. 00:25:17.410 --> 00:25:20.809 And finally, we have to talk about his underappreciated 00:25:20.809 --> 00:25:23.869 talent as a mimic. It's central to his transformations. 00:25:24.369 --> 00:25:27.069 His mastery of dialect is profound. He can just 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:30.099 erase his native Welsh accent. And the ultimate 00:25:30.099 --> 00:25:32.279 technical display of this came during the restoration 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:34.779 of Kubrick's Spartacus. They needed to re -record 00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:37.880 audio for a lost scene featuring his mentor, 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.359 Laurence Olivier. And they needed someone who 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:42.960 could replicate Olivier's specific vocal tone 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:45.579 and cadence perfectly. On the recommendation 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:48.500 of Olivier's widow, Joan Plowright, Hopkins stepped 00:25:48.500 --> 00:25:50.440 in. What did he do? He listened to the sound 00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:52.799 clips and just flawlessly recreated the voice 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.000 of the late Lord Olivier, preserving the scene. 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:56.920 This wasn't just acting. It was high -level vocal 00:25:56.920 --> 00:25:59.440 reconstruction. It proves his preparation lets 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.799 him not only master his own voice, but literally 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:04.160 inhabit the voice of others. The intensity we've 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:07.119 discussed, the 200 repetitions, the control, 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:10.240 the mimicry, it all suggests a brain operating 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.690 on a different plane. And the sources confirm 00:26:12.690 --> 00:26:15.269 that Hopkins has always maintained this rich, 00:26:15.369 --> 00:26:18.750 creative life completely outside of acting. He's 00:26:18.750 --> 00:26:21.309 a true Renaissance man, and his first great love 00:26:21.309 --> 00:26:24.390 was music. He confessed that he actually wanted 00:26:24.390 --> 00:26:27.009 to go to music college, but felt he wasn't clever 00:26:27.009 --> 00:26:29.150 enough and had to settle for being an actor. 00:26:29.289 --> 00:26:32.509 But that ambition never died. He's been composing 00:26:32.509 --> 00:26:35.069 music his entire adult life. He even had some 00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:38.509 mainstream success. He released a single Distant 00:26:38.509 --> 00:26:42.549 Star in 1986. Which, surprisingly, charted in 00:26:42.549 --> 00:26:45.289 the UK. He's also composed major concert works 00:26:45.289 --> 00:26:47.789 like The Mask of Time. But the most poetic musical 00:26:47.789 --> 00:26:50.309 story is about his waltz. And the waltz goes 00:26:50.309 --> 00:26:53.390 on. He composed it when he was just 26 back in 00:26:53.390 --> 00:26:56.690 1964. For nearly five decades, he never heard 00:26:56.690 --> 00:26:58.829 it performed. What happened? He submitted it 00:26:58.829 --> 00:27:01.450 to the renowned Dutch conductor André Roux, who 00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:03.309 premiered it in Vienna with his orchestra in 00:27:03.309 --> 00:27:05.650 2011. Imagine that, composing something in your 00:27:05.650 --> 00:27:07.589 youth and only hearing it realized in a grand 00:27:07.589 --> 00:27:10.630 concert hall nearly 50 years later. It just underscores 00:27:10.630 --> 00:27:13.170 the depth of his creative necessity, completely 00:27:13.170 --> 00:27:15.369 independent of his fame. And he also stepped 00:27:15.369 --> 00:27:17.950 behind the camera. His directing debut was a 00:27:17.950 --> 00:27:20.410 film about his fellow Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, 00:27:20.769 --> 00:27:23.750 Return Journey. Then he adapted Chekhov's Uncle 00:27:23.750 --> 00:27:26.349 Vanya into the film August, but he reset the 00:27:26.349 --> 00:27:29.210 action in his beloved Wales. That intense focus 00:27:29.210 --> 00:27:31.269 and drive, though, it often comes at a personal 00:27:31.269 --> 00:27:34.190 cost. And we have to address the difficult parts 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:36.910 of his inner life, specifically his recovery. 00:27:37.170 --> 00:27:39.539 He is a recovering alcoholic. He's been sober 00:27:39.539 --> 00:27:42.539 since just after Christmas 1975. And he attributed 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:45.299 his turning point not to willpower, but to making 00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:48.599 a quantum leap by finally asking for help. He 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:51.079 described that act as a form of prayer, influenced 00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:53.279 by a woman in recovery who advised him simply 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:56.900 to just trust in God. It was a moment of surrendering 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:59.619 the very control he so obsessively uses in his 00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:01.960 work. And that surrender seems to have evolved 00:28:01.960 --> 00:28:05.269 into a deeper spirituality. It has. He's moved 00:28:05.269 --> 00:28:08.230 beyond agnosticism. He says he is compelled to 00:28:08.230 --> 00:28:10.650 believe there's something bigger than me, concluding 00:28:10.650 --> 00:28:12.410 with this incredible philosophical humility, 00:28:12.750 --> 00:28:14.990 I'm just a microbe. And that acknowledgement 00:28:14.990 --> 00:28:18.329 of smallness, he found, brought him immense personal 00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:21.630 relief. His unusual intensity might also be explained 00:28:21.630 --> 00:28:24.509 by a diagnosis he revealed later in life. He 00:28:24.509 --> 00:28:26.529 was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Right. 00:28:26.609 --> 00:28:28.329 He said he was on the high end of the spectrum. 00:28:28.549 --> 00:28:32.049 And by 2020, he had reframed the condition, calling 00:28:32.049 --> 00:28:35.940 it A great gift, actually. How so? Well, Asperger's 00:28:35.940 --> 00:28:38.559 is often characterized by intense focus on detail 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:42.299 and a dedication to routines. When you connect 00:28:42.299 --> 00:28:44.619 that back to his ritual of repeating lines 200 00:28:44.619 --> 00:28:48.140 times and his unique ability for mimicry, the 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:50.660 diagnosis provides this clear structural explanation 00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:53.690 for his singular professional method. His need 00:28:53.690 --> 00:28:56.269 for obsessive preparation might be a direct expression 00:28:56.269 --> 00:28:59.430 of his neurotype. It's very possible. And that 00:28:59.430 --> 00:29:01.490 control, it wasn't just internalized, it was 00:29:01.490 --> 00:29:04.490 channeled back into his roots. He became a significant 00:29:04.490 --> 00:29:07.349 philanthropist for Wales. He was president of 00:29:07.349 --> 00:29:10.190 the National Trust's Snowdonia Appeal. And he 00:29:10.190 --> 00:29:12.990 didn't just lend his name. He donated a million 00:29:12.990 --> 00:29:15.069 pounds toward the three million needed to purchase 00:29:15.069 --> 00:29:17.839 parts of the park for preservation. He also supported 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:20.579 arts education, contributing to the Anthony Hopkins 00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:23.740 Center at his alma mater, the Royal Welsh College 00:29:23.740 --> 00:29:26.460 of Music and Drama. And in the lovely nod to 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:28.460 Welsh culture, he's the patron of the Tommy Cooper 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:31.579 Society. Even unveiling a statue of the beloved 00:29:31.579 --> 00:29:34.680 comedian in 2008, he put on Cooper's trademark 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:37.900 fez and did a comic routine. Showing that even 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:40.700 the knighted master maintains that core of theatrical 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:43.619 fun. But finally, we have to touch upon the complexity 00:29:43.619 --> 00:29:46.269 of his personal family life. He's been married 00:29:46.269 --> 00:29:48.930 three times and he maintains an estranged relationship 00:29:48.930 --> 00:29:51.670 with his daughter from his first marriage. When 00:29:51.670 --> 00:29:53.269 he was asked about whether he has grandchildren, 00:29:53.529 --> 00:29:57.069 his response was starkly honest. It was. He said, 00:29:57.130 --> 00:29:59.630 I don't have any idea. People break up, families 00:29:59.630 --> 00:30:01.809 split and, you know, get on with your life. People 00:30:01.809 --> 00:30:03.509 make choices. I don't care one way or the other. 00:30:03.650 --> 00:30:06.549 That is a brutal admission of detachment. It 00:30:06.549 --> 00:30:09.430 is. And he acknowledged his own failings, stating, 00:30:09.609 --> 00:30:12.069 I guess I am selfish. I have not been a good 00:30:12.069 --> 00:30:15.220 husband or father. It's a moment of sober reflection 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:17.539 in the sources. It reminds us that the genius 00:30:17.539 --> 00:30:19.980 and the absolute focus required for six decades 00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:22.599 of world -class performance often comes at the 00:30:22.599 --> 00:30:24.920 price of traditional family connection. So we 00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:27.720 have completed the deep dive into the paradoxical 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:30.589 life of Sir Anthony Hopkins. We've seen an arc 00:30:30.589 --> 00:30:32.990 that stretches from an insecure student in Port 00:30:32.990 --> 00:30:36.309 Talbot convinced he was stupid to the terrifying 00:30:36.309 --> 00:30:39.670 brilliance under Olivier. He survived a debilitating 00:30:39.670 --> 00:30:42.789 fear of the stage, achieved shocking global fame 00:30:42.789 --> 00:30:45.029 with a tightly controlled chaos of Hannibal Lecter, 00:30:45.089 --> 00:30:47.849 and then experienced this late career resurgence, 00:30:48.049 --> 00:30:50.869 winning his second Oscar well into his 80s. The 00:30:50.869 --> 00:30:53.410 sources reveal a life governed by two driving 00:30:53.410 --> 00:30:56.289 forces, that deep psychological need to overcome 00:30:56.289 --> 00:30:59.289 the feeling of being stupid and the unique. neural 00:30:59.289 --> 00:31:01.990 hardwiring of his Akburgers, which fueled his 00:31:01.990 --> 00:31:04.869 obsessive dedication. He channeled internal struggle 00:31:04.869 --> 00:31:08.329 into external mastery. He ultimately found profound 00:31:08.329 --> 00:31:12.009 relief in sobriety and spiritual humility, realizing 00:31:12.009 --> 00:31:15.490 his own place as just a microbe in the vast universe. 00:31:15.869 --> 00:31:19.329 This disciplined, complex man, a mimic, a composer, 00:31:19.549 --> 00:31:21.950 a philanthropist, is just a testament to the 00:31:21.950 --> 00:31:24.430 power of structured focus. It's the ultimate 00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:27.630 lesson in using control to gain freedom. And 00:31:27.630 --> 00:31:29.109 that brings us back to the heart of his artistic 00:31:29.109 --> 00:31:31.769 paradox. A final thought for you to carry with 00:31:31.769 --> 00:31:35.289 you. We know Hopkins repeats his lines 200 times 00:31:35.289 --> 00:31:37.829 to achieve a delivery so natural it sounds like 00:31:37.829 --> 00:31:39.910 the first time. And then he immediately discards 00:31:39.910 --> 00:31:42.390 them, wipes the slate clean for the next performance. 00:31:42.710 --> 00:31:45.109 The technical control is absolute, almost mechanical, 00:31:45.289 --> 00:31:47.349 to ensure the performance is purely emotional 00:31:47.349 --> 00:31:50.150 and spontaneous. So the question this raises 00:31:50.150 --> 00:31:52.910 is profound. When does that level of perfect 00:31:52.910 --> 00:31:55.869 preparation cease being about memory? and become 00:31:55.869 --> 00:31:58.250 instead about creating the ultimate space for 00:31:58.250 --> 00:32:00.490 genuine, relaxed vulnerability on the day of 00:32:00.490 --> 00:32:03.049 filming. By locking down the technical demands 00:32:03.049 --> 00:32:05.849 through obsessive repetition, he frees his conscious 00:32:05.849 --> 00:32:08.880 mind entirely. That discipline. That willingness 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.220 to perfectly master and then immediately let 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:14.440 go is perhaps the ultimate expression of creative 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.400 control. It allows him finally to just jump off 00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:19.740 the edge, just as Olivier instructed him all 00:32:19.740 --> 00:32:22.099 those decades ago. And if you are keen to delve 00:32:22.099 --> 00:32:24.279 even deeper into the mind of the master, his 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:27.259 memoir, We Did Okay Kid, is scheduled to be published 00:32:27.259 --> 00:32:30.180 in November 2025. That is one journey we are 00:32:30.180 --> 00:32:31.099 definitely anticipating.