Anthony Hopkins Reflects on Alcoholism, Temper issues, Oscar wins and 50 years of Clean living

'What's the weather like over there?' asks Anthony Hopkins as our video call begins. Despite living in the Golden State for decades, traces of his Welsh heritage remain apparent in his distinctive, musical voice - perhaps slightly rougher than it once was. The night has fallen in London but a bright, sunny morning in Los Angeles, and the actor appears just as radiant in demeanour and attire, sporting a turquoise and green shirt. 'I came here 50 years ago. People asked: 'Are you {selling out|compromising your values?' I said: 'No, I just enjoy the weather and {to get a suntan|want some sunshine.' But I like Los Angeles. I've had a great life here.'

Recent Challenges and Property Destruction

It hasn't been completely wonderful recently, actually. In January this year, Hopkins' house in Pacific Palisades was destroyed by raging fires. 'It was a bit of a calamity,' he states, with surprisingly lighthearted tone. 'We're grateful that everyone survived, and we got our cats and our small household {into the clear|to safety.' He wasn't there at the time; he and his wife, Stella were in the Middle Eastern country, where he was hosting a musical performance of his own music performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. They're now in a rented house in the adjacent area of the upscale community. 'We lost all our possessions, but you reflect: 'Oh well, {at least we are alive|we still have our lives.' I feel sorry for the many individuals who have been severely impacted. Individuals who had reached way past the age to stop working, and had labored diligently over the years and now … {nothing|have nothing left.'

Continuing Career and Recent Projects

Hopkins will be 88 this winter, but obviously doesn't consider himself ready to retire. As a double Academy Award recipient, a British knight, a prominent cultural figure and one of the most revered actors alive, he has an embarrassment of laurels to rest on, but there's still many projects planned. He's just finished a movie with the British director, for whom he has a newfound admiration - 'He's precise in what he {wants to see|expects to achieve' - and he's coming back to Britain soon, he mentions, to make a new movie with Richard Eyre, then an additional project in his homeland.

Early Life and Personal Challenges

But recently Hopkins has also been looking back, too - at his whole life. His new memoir is quite different from your typical actor's autobiography, in part because he is far from your conventional performer - although he does cross paths with past greats such as Laurence Olivier, the celebrated actor, Katharine Hepburn and the Welsh star - but primarily because he's remarkably honest about his difficult younger years. When he describes his early years in the Welsh community of his birthplace, the only son of a baking business family, it seems like a different planet. 'My father had that approach: stop whining, cease whining, you have no idea what you're saying, maintain good posture, {get on with it|move forward!' His father was also prone to depression and worry, the actor explains. It was wartime and postwar Britain; life was just like that.

Childhood Challenges

According to his recollection, the young Hopkins comes across as a bit of a loner and an eccentric. He had few friends, was often targeted and wouldn't even go his own birthday parties. He displayed so minimal potential at school, one educator told him he was 'a brainless carthorse. 'I was existing in fantasy, my dream world, I suppose,' he states. 'I couldn't comprehend anything mentally or academically and that drove me into a kind of loneliness and {resentment|bitterness.' He retreated behind a mask of insolence, 'a tough stance and a distant demeanor', and that formed his character. Perhaps, in a way, he was performing even then?

Acting Career and Breakthrough Moments

A formative realization in terms of performance was watching Olivier's film adaptation of Hamlet at school in the late forties, when he was twelve. 'I was profoundly affected by my response,' he recalls. 'I don't know what it was about that, but it created such an impact in my head, experiencing the Bard's work for the {first time|initial occasion.' He started learning lines from Hamlet and the Roman leader. His family were amazed. (Many years afterward, his parent, on his deathbed, asked his son to recite the famous soliloquy for him.)

Memory and Technique

Hopkins' memory is the foundation of his performance, he explains. He studies his scripts 100 or 200 times, so every line is permanently memorized before he arrives for filming. It started as a protection mechanism when he was a young actor, but it's evolved into his method. 'That was my natural ability, truly: to know the part so well that I had complete confidence. When you've mastered the script, you have a relaxation to perform in practice, so you can truly listen to the fellow actor. The art of acting, I think, is to be able to listen.'

Alcoholism Struggle

A domain in which he did find common ground - far too much of it - was alcohol. 'Alcohol consumption represented a hereditary practice,' he notes. It was a theatre tradition, too. This was the period of 'rebellious youth' exemplified by the playwright's the famous work (Hopkins had been captivated by the actor's interpretation in the fifties), and of famous, heavy-drinking 'troublemakers' like the Irish actor, the British star, the Welsh performer and the celebrated actor. Did he match that characterization?

'Absolutely, I did. I would lack reliability, and I would have conflicts and argue with, especially, filmmakers. Looking back, it's all paranoia. They were attempting to perform their work; I was striving to accomplish mine, but I couldn't take any … it wasn't criticism, I couldn't tolerate any dominant behavior. So I'd {lash out|react violently.' He would often get into physical altercations in bars, too.

Life-Changing Moment

The real wake-up call came in the winter of 1975, in LA. He awakened one day to find his car missing, and called his agent to inform him. 'Nobody stole it,' his manager responded. 'We found you on the road.' The actor had driven all night from the southwestern state to Beverly Hills, about a significant distance, blackout drunk. 'I was out of control, I was crazy, I couldn't remember most of the trip,' he says. 'And that's a deadly way to live, because I had no self-regard. I could have taken out an entire family … I knew I needed help, I {knew it was over|understood it had to end.'

As he describes the experience, a distinct inner voice in his head inquired if he desired to survive or die. He replied: 'I choose life,' and the presence said, 'It's all over now. You can start living.' He went straight to Alcoholics Anonymous. Following this, 'I emerged on the street, 11am, 29 December 1975, and everything looked different. Everything seemed sunnier, everything seemed more … benign. No threat in the environment.'

Career Highlights and Iconic Roles

At this point the performer was living and working more and more in the United States, and in film. 'I just wanted some sunshine, and I didn't want to be waiting about in uncomfortable costumes holding a spear for the rest of my life,' he quips. It was his hero the legendary actor who had first coaxed him on to a movie set, in the late sixties. He knocked on the actor's private space at the National one afternoon and announced, 'I want you to do a test for me,' Hopkins recalls. 'He had been drinking, and we visited the bar afterwards.'

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